Can the HSE distance itself over funding the ALCI?

"I hadn't even thought about the fact that folks might want to bind during lactation. Um, and and the safety around that. So, I love that you included that in your book."

So says the interviewer who also carries the IBCLC certification of Jacob Engelsman on a podcast a year ago after the launch of his book "Lactation for the Rest of Us". Mr Engelsman (see CV here) is the lactation consultant invited to give two talks to the planned October conference by the Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland (ALCI) until women's groups became aware of his involvement and raised their serious concerns.

"Yeah. because that's one of the that's one of the most common questions that I get from uh people who are who are you know more masculine of centre is is when can I start binding again? And because for a lot of people it's a mental health concern right they're that they are that they are presenting themselves being seen by the world in the way that accurate accurately reflects who they are. So, the short answer to the question is always like you can buy [bind?] whenever whenever it feels comfortable and like here's the strategy for determining that because I I do always think it's really important to stress to people like don't plan on wearing your binder outside of the home for longer than you've worn it in the house since you started lactating because like there are so many changes that like even through the course of the day regarding uh the amount of milk in your chest that you know if you put on your binder right after you pump go out for a few hours by the end of that few hours your chest is going to feel very different. Aside from the fact that you've been wearing a you know pretty pretty powerful compression top for for a while. So, you know, wear your binder for 3 hours at home before you plan on leaving the house with it on for 3 hours."

"Well, and there are some there are some trans guys who who get super into it, right? and they're I am I am providing for my for my baby, you know, like I am uh and and it's a really empowering experience, but then but then for a lot of trans guys, it's it's exactly the opposite. It's like I I just got this baby out of me and now and now my chest is full of milk and I really just need to get back to being uh ['feeling like themselves again' - interviewer] yeah, yeah look being who I used to be."

It's very noticeable in podcasts in which Mr Engelsman is interviewed that the needs of the baby are rarely, if ever mentioned. The word "woman" is rarely used too. No matter what anyone chooses to believe the fact is that only women can be mothers and only women can breastfeed. A woman who is so distressed by her sex that she chooses to bind her own breasts yet still gives birth and then attempts to breastfeed, while also possibly reverting to binding her breasts, is clearly not well mentally and is very unlikely to be putting the needs of her baby first which is what most normal mothers do.

The HSE has said that

"A growing number of babies are born within diverse family structures in Ireland each year. HSE services are also seeing an increased demand for lactation support during surrogacy, after breast surgery and assisted reproduction. Providing ALCI practitioners with opportunities to increase their lactation knowledge and skills to support families of all structures and backgrounds is necessary and in line with equality legislation and inclusion strategies in Ireland."

Ms Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Children spoke plainly about this issue on The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk this week.

“How is this a diversity issue?” she continued. “I fail to see that. Once again, females are the only ones that breastfeed. This is not an attack on diversity of families or makeup of families. But it is calling a spade a spade and being clear about what males can do and what females can do, and what is in the interest of the child. That has to be really our guiding north in any action.”

But the ALCI says on its website:

Yesterday Cllr Emer Tóibín of Aontu said on X/Twitter:

The HSE cannot simply disown the content to be provided at the ALCI conference. The ALCI is a Section 39 organisation which has been funded over several years by it, using taxpayers money.

The report above states that "The HSE provides annual grant funding to ALCI and La Leche League of Ireland to provide ongoing breastfeeding education for health service staff," and that "The HSE provided €760,089 grant funding to LLL, Cuidiú, FOBF and ALCI since 2016..." It adds "The HSE and voluntary service provides monitor the experiences of mothers attending groups."

So the HSE cannot claim ignorance of what it funds and questions urgently need to be asked of the Minister as to how the need to support breastfeeding mothers must be shoehorned into meeting "equality legislation and inclusion strategies in Ireland." The HSE needs to prioritise breastfeeding in the best interests of babies and not the demands of adults.

The HSE has also funded TENI, the Transgender Equality Network Ireland, which for years promoted breast binding for girls, some so young that clearly they would have difficulty paying for a binder:

The Department of Health and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill have to take responsibility for ensuring that any State funding to promote breastfeeding in this country makes it clear that this is to aid women only and that any attempt by a man to induce lactation - something which Mr Engelsman claims is "extremely achievable" results in a swift referral to Tusla in the interests of child protection.

Jacob Engelsman on Chrysalis Collective excerpt

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The ALCI had also said in the run-up to the conference

We need to have an urgent investigation requested by the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill into how many women are getting pregnant or planning a pregnancy having taken hormones or any other substances which their body does not need such as testosterone as a result of a deluded belief that they are in fact men or because they call themselves "trans men", "non-binary" or something else yet still want to have a baby.

As Stella O'Malley, founder of Genspect writes this week:

"Nurses and midwives are among the professionals designated as “mandated persons” under the Children First Act. Where a mandated person knows, believes or has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is being harmed, has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed, the Act imposes reporting obligations to Tusla. Many of the lactation professionals involved in ALCI are also registered nurses and midwives."

Does anyone know what the risks to the developing foetus is even if a woman stops taking testosterone before she gets pregnant? Shouldn't the HSE be taking steps to find out how many women are doing this and what the consequences may be for any babies exposed to it in utero and possibly afterwards also through their breastmilk?

What adults choose to do to their own bodies, even at the taxpayers expense and with the co-operation of doctors who should know better, is one thing. To put a developing baby at risk to meet the delusions of some women who imagine themselves to be other than female is unconscionable. The Minister needs to intervene immediately.