Published: 13 May 2021

Click here to listen to the interview.

Published: 13 May 2021

Just when you thought it was safe to assume that breastfeeding mums are real women – and not part of the “cancel culture” craze – they too seem to be going “woke”!

Well, some of them.

Activists in the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), working with an LGBTQ group called “Rainbow Families” have produced a new booklet called Breastfeeding, Chestfeeding and Human Milk Feeding.

The booklet is designed to be “transgender inclusive”. Activists claim that the term “breastfeeding” can trigger bodily discomfort in biological females who identify as men.

But one of the ABA’s traditional counsellors – a breastfeeding mum herself – is not happy. She has told The Australian about her concerns on condition of anonymity.

Incredibly, our society is getting to the stage where using time-honoured words like “mother” instead of “gestational parent” could land you in big trouble if you are a nurse or breastfeeding counsellor in a “perinatal” (formerly “maternity”) hospital ward.

This year, midwives in Sussex, UK were told to stop using terms including “breastfeeding” and “breastmilk” when working with transgender patients.

Nursing staff were told to avoid using the word “mother” on its own. They were given a list of alternative terms, including “mother or birthing parent”, “breast/chestfeeding” and “maternal and parental”.

But the Australian breastfeeding counsellor said she and most of her ABA colleagues “identify very strongly as mothers, … the mother-to-mother space that the association has always provided”.

She said the new ABA booklet for transgender parents “undermines breastfeeding and mothers, and science and female biology, and mother-to-mother support… It opens the door to biological males to participate in ‘human milk feeding’ with babies, and babies deserve better than that.”

And that is the especially disturbing part. Biological men who identify as women are now seeking to breastfeed babies born to female partners.

Three years ago a medical journal reported a case study, where a doctor and a nurse at a clinic used a cocktail of medications to enable a “transwoman” to fulfill his goal to breastfeed his adopted infant.

The female-identified male patient, referred to as a “she” throughout the study, explained that “her” partner was pregnant but not interested in breastfeeding. The transwoman, who had not had reassignment surgery, hoped to take on the role of being the primary food source for the infant.

The transwoman had a male body but was taking female hormones to achieve enlarged breasts. The transwoman was also taking anti-anxiety drugs and an androgen-blocker that was ineffective and allowed testosterone (male hormone) levels to remain high.

The transgender woman was then given domperidone, a drug banned in the US due to heart risks, to induce milk production.

A doctor commenting on the case was concerned that babies fed milk from an artificially stimulated man would be at risk of various physical and mental disorders later on.

There is no evidence that the mother knew about these risks. We do not know what happened to her baby later on.

But the case is an eerie reminder of what happened to UK teenager Keira Bell. She was given puberty blocker drugs, quickly moved on to male hormones and surgery, and now deeply regrets her treatment. No one had explained all the risks to her – even if she had been capable of giving informed consent.

In the very first chapter of the Bible – Genesis 1:27 – we read that God created us male and female.

When will we learn that we meddle with His design at our peril?  We would greatly appreciate your prayer and financial support as we work to uphold reality: men and women, mothers and fathers, and women who breastfeed their babies.

Peter Downie - National Director

FamilyVoice Australia

Published: 06 May 2021

Click here to see Channel 7's story which has had 1.4 million views.

Click here to listen to Leila Abdallah's interview with Ben Fordham on 2GB.

Click here to watch Leila Abdallah's interview on the Today show with Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon.

Published: 05 May 2021

In Australia we celebrate Mother’s Day next Sunday, 9 May.

Motherhood is a very special relationship, rated more highly than most others because of the love, dedication and often sacrifice of mothers for their children. That is why Mother's Day is now celebrated across some 50 different countries of the world.

But not all on the same day. In the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Ireland and Nigeria, Mother’s Day was celebrated on 14 March this year.

The UK Mother’s Day, often known as Mothering Sunday, is always held on the fourth Sunday of Lent. From the 1500s, this was the day Christians would visit their “mother church” – where they were baptised, or their local parish church, or their nearest cathedral (the mother church of their diocese).

In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. It has morphed into a celebration of all mothers and grandmothers.

Other countries have their Mother’s Day at a different time from the UK. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Italy are among those that follow the United States, celebrating mums on the second Sunday in May.

The US tradition began with Miss Anna Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher. In 1907 she started a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honour of her mother, Mrs Ann Jarvis. Mrs Jarvis had spent her life mobilising mothers to care for their children, and she wanted mothers' work to be recognised.

“I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers' day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it,” Mrs Jarvis said.

Miss Jarvis sought to fulfil her mother’s wish. She and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessmen, and politicians in their campaign to establish a national Mother's Day.

The first Mother's Day observance was a church service on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the second Sunday of May. Anna handed out her mother's favourite flowers, white incarnations.

By 1911, Mother's Day had spread nationwide and was being celebrated in almost every US state. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honour of mothers.

Over the years, Mother's Day became increasingly popular, and the current traditions of card and gift-giving increased. The blatant commercialisation angered Anna – she even began to campaign against the greed and profit motive that was demeaning her day of remembrance.

But Mother’s Day continues. Many Christian families ignore the commercialisation, making an effort to show their appreciation for their mums with a special visit, meal, or gift of flowers.

It is sad that the children’s charity Barnardos no longer recognises the unique contribution that mothers make to their families’ wellbeing, ditching the long-standing Mother of the Year award in February.

In this “woke” era, the word “mother” is becoming “politically incorrect”. Barnardos may not have wanted to offend “gestational parents”.

But FamilyVoice has gladly filled the gap. Keep watching this week for our announcement of the winners of our new awards – Mother of the Year, Young Mother of the Year, and Grandmother of the Year.

And remember the first Commandment with a promise:

“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12

Peter Downie - National Director

FamilyVoice Australia