Saturday, May 12, 2012

What's Worse Than Posing For A Time Magazine Cover Photo While Breastfeeding Your 4-Year Old?


Everyone's been expressing their aghastment over Time's (admittedly effective) cover photo of a young mother breastfeeding her pre-school age son. But, buried in her story is an even more icky detail. She also breastfed her (urp) three-year old adopted son. We are doomed. 

How old are your children?My adopted son is 5, and my biological son will be 4 next month. 
Tell me about becoming a mom and breast-feeding your children.We were starting the process of adoption when I got pregnant. We weren’t expecting our biological son at all. He was born two months early, and preemies that age don’t have a sucking reflex. The nurses in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] — they kept trying to put him on formula. I couldn’t see him for three days because I was so sick. I was basically passed out from the medication they were giving me. My husband is so great — he would bring the equipment in and actually do the pumping while I was asleep. It was a full family effort. My mother breast-fed me until I was 6 years old, until I self-weaned. Her encouragement to breast-feed is why we were so successful. 
And your adopted son?We were able to bring our son home in November 2010. I know so many amazing women who have induced their lactation, but I had milk [from feeding my biological son]. I had one of the easier situations as far as adoptive breast-feeding is concerned, but it was considered extended breast-feeding. And it was transracial. And he was adopted. I was ready for attack as soon as I posted one of the pictures [on my blog].
Being able to give him that [comfort] with the trauma that he faced was really, really important to me. But I didn’t realize how much it would help my attachment to him. When his English improved, because the connection was there, he didn’t do it as much. So now he’ll do it maybe once a month.

It's hard to believe someone so young can be so pompous, but apparently she was breastfed to a late age as well. (until six years old!) I know she tells herself that breastfeeding an adoptive, "transracial" child with limited English skills was a great thing, but I think we might want to check on the kid's therapist in a couple decades for an update. 



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