Just as we had recovered from the story of the breastfeeding doll, which drew comment from all around the world, comes a new gob smacker - the breastfeeding dad.
A Swedish man, who must surely win points for optimism, is planning to pump himself to see if he can stimulate lactation and ultimately breastfeed.
Ragnar Bengtsson, who's 26 and started his experiment last week, told Swedish site The Local that he plans to use a breast pump at three-hour intervals, in public if necessary. As a full-time student at Stockholm University he says he's "going to have to pull the pump out during class."
But he also added: "It doesn't really bother me if it makes people uncomfortable..If they have issues with it that's their problem."
Now I'm all in favour of breastfeeding and equal rights yada yada yada, but why? For the love of Playmobil, why would anyone do this?
Bengtsson, who has a 2-year-old son, is chronicling his adventures in lactation on a blog, The Milkman - One Drop at a Time, hosted by Swedish TV8. Sadly for us, the blog is in Swedish, otherwise we could have welcomed him into the Mummy bloggers' roundup.
"Anything that doesn't do any harm is worth trying out," he told The Local. "And if it works it could prove very important for men's ability to get much closer to their children at an early stage." He said that he hadn't attempted to breastfeed his son, but wouldn't rule out giving it a try with any of his future babies. "Some people think it's completely sick," he added. You're not wrong there mate.
Sigbritt Werner, professor of endocrinology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said that if Bengtsson sticks to his plan, he may be able to produce enough of the hormone prolactin to cause lactation. However, she suggested that there are better ways to use your man-boobs to comfort your children: "Men often have trouble finding things. And if the mother is out, the child is screaming and they can't find the pacifier I'm sure there are a lot of men who give their baby their breasts."
Source [ParentDish US]
What do you think? Is this a good way for a dad to understand breastfeeding? Or just a bit bonkers?