Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for transgender individuals seeking to “chestfeed” their infants has some lawmakers concerned that the agency is prioritizing politics before patients’ health.
Under “Health Equity Considerations” on the CDC website, the agency asserts, “Transgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals may give birth and breastfeed or feed at the chest (chestfeed).”
Encouraging medical professionals to use patients’ preferred pronouns, the CDC adds, “An individual does not need to have given birth to breastfeed or chestfeed.”
On another webpage featuring breastfeeding guidance for those who have had breast surgery, the CDC instructs: “Some transgender parents who have had breast/top surgery may wish to breastfeed, or chestfeed (a term used by some transgender and non-binary parents), their infants. Healthcare providers working with these families should be familiar with medical, emotional, and social aspects of gender transitions to provide optimal family-centered care and meet the nutritional needs of the infant.”…