Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a letter on Tuesday to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen regarding her agency’s recent guidance on so-called “chestfeeding.”
The two senators in leadership positions on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee referenced the recent health equity guidance from the CDC to use “non-stigmatizing, bias-free language,” such as “pregnant person” and “lactating person,” to include transgender people.
“Transgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals may give birth and breastfeed or feed at the chest (chestfeed). … An individual does not need to have given birth to breastfeed or chestfeed,” the CDC said.
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The CDC also issued guidance on breastfeeding under special circumstances that indicate transgender people can “chestfeed” their children and may need special attention from healthcare providers in obtaining “medication to induce lactation” and maximizing their milk production.
“What is explicitly left out is the acknowledgment of limited research on the ability of transgender individuals to breastfeed infants,” the senators wrote in the letter to Cohen. “CDC also does not provide any information about any unique health and safety risks posed to the transgender individual or the infant.”
The senators, both of whom are physicians, explained there is no medication to induce lactation that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The two medications that are often used off-label for lactation, domperidone and metoclopramide, have serious complication warnings from the FDA.
“The CDC should only issue guidance that is informed by sound data and that informs people of potential health risks,” the senators wrote. “To issue breastfeeding guidance that does not highlight the clear risks posed to transgender women breastfeeding unnecessarily puts the parent and infant in jeopardy of potentially serious health complications.”
The senators also requested that Cohen provide answers by Aug. 1 to several questions regarding the issuance of the guidance, including the effects of lactation-inducing medication and testosterone on breastfeeding infants. Additionally, the senators requested any peer-reviewed studies and data on the safety and efficacy of transgender breastfeeding.
A CDC spokesperson told the Washington Examiner, “CDC did not endorse using drugs to induce lactation. Our website references clinical protocol from Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and information on discussing medications with healthcare providers.”
The CDC has provided information about transgender people breastfeeding since 2018, including directions to the National Institutes of Health Drugs and Lactation Database , which contains peer-reviewed studies regarding the levels of breast milk transmission of various chemicals.
Cohen took over the role of CDC director on July 10 from Rochelle Walensky . President Joe Biden stated he selected Cohen because of her ability to lead the organization through its restructuring and revitalization after COVID-19.
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In their letter, the senators highlighted that the CDC “has already lost credibility amongst a wide swath of Americans due to the perception that the Agency’s guidance is driven by politics rather than science.”
“Even though some advocacy groups may want to deny the biological differences between men and women, the CDC has a responsibility to present all relevant scientific information, including information that may complicate or contradict this political narrative, or risk having their trust amongst the public sink to new lows,” the senators wrote.