Mammary Charlatans
No one asked for "mammary biotechnology"
The word mammal is derived from the Latin word for breast, “mamma”. Our most memorable and meaningful signifier as an animal kingdom-the ability to lactate and nurse our young- is built into our title- and it’s root is suspiciously close to the most dear of female endearments, mama. Mothers, not fathers, not the corporate machine-are the source of infant nourishment. This magical and visceral experience of keeping another soul alive with our mere mortal mother bodies, the deep and ingrained experience of being two instead of one, the most contentment many of us will ever know-breastfeeding. A word that can be contentious, that can spark the need to put “trigger warning” before it is spoken of, an experience that is often belabored and argued about among moms and insurance companies and hospitals and professionals and governments alike. The act that defines our existence, once a given, now an option. The act that is undeniably sacred, now broken up into manuals and infographics and medical research charts and now, the fruits of which (the milk)-being made in a lab from both female and male cells.
The other day, I was looking out of my kitchen window at the chickens tearing my garden up as per usual, and I did a double take. There was a rabbit who appeared to have more than 4 feet, and my brain took a second to understand what I was witnessing. It was in actuality a rabbit nursing two of her babies, both of which were twisting and turning underneath her, laying on their backs, bellies to the sky. Our rooster stood next to this little show, apparently bewildered at the 12-footed rabbit as well. I called my little ones over to see, who exclaimed excitedly “baby bunnies nursing!” and “nursies like meeeeee” with glee. What a charming little nature documentary moment, in my own yard. And what an illuminating thing to witness, to help me remember- I am an animal too.
We are all animals, indeed. A fact that I take a lot of comfort in personally, but which I know others sneer at. Yes- there are things-major things- that make human animals different than the others. Our brains and their capabilities being a prominent example. Our brains do amazing things, things we all can marvel at and appreciate. They also do things like over-complicate matters of nature that are not meant to be tampered with. Biomilq is one of those things, breastfeeding is one of those matters. I wrote about the company about a year ago but was recently reminded of their existence when the recent New Yorker article from March 2023- "Biomilq and the New Science of Artificial Breastmilk" was shared byHalf Baked in her most recent post.
Modern Mammalian Imposters
What is this abomination you ask? Well, it is a company that is in the process of developing fake breast milk in a lab using human mammary epithelial cells that are cultured (in what medium, I was not able to find) that they plan to market as a “breast milk alternative”, with the “nutrition of breastmilk and the practicality of formula”. The product is made from old cell lines and new ones derived from donations of women who “MAY receive $25-75 in gift cards” for their contribution to the for-profit company. Biomilq likes to use the term “human milk” to perhaps distance themselves just a tad from the loaded “breast milk” but we all know what they are getting at-better than formula, more high-tech and clean than breast milk. “So good for the environment! So modern! What a blessing for LGBTQ families! It will let Dad and Grandma bond with the baby more without guilt!” How nice.
Milking Mental Health
Another reason the company is actively pushing to validate the need for their product is, of course, the topic of the moment, the star of the media show: mental health. In an article they published on their website recently concerning maternal mental health they sneakily insinuate that breastfeeding is a culprit for postpartum depression. They list it as a risk factor right alongside birth trauma and call it an “unexpected parenting challenge”. Never mind the fact that birth trauma and/or other lack of support or resources is very likely the cause of breastfeeding issues. Listing these things out as if they have no causational relationship ignores the truth that breastfeeding issues are a result of bigger societal problems like the normalization of intervention in birth, the lack of postpartum care and support, and the insult that is the (lack of) maternity leave situation we have inherited. Breastfeeding isn’t the problem, the lack of value afforded to mothers is the problem- and fake milk isn’t going to fix that.
The company even goes as far as pointing to the “insatiable nature of the demands of a hungry infant” as an ingredient in the “perfect storm” that leads to mental health challenges. I am not here to deny that the almighty NEED that infants possess for us as our mothers and for our milk is sometimes overwhelming. I have cried tears of pain and frustration trying to latch a baby, I have weathered the sore nipple storm, I have had to “put the baby down and walk away”. I am here, however, to state that that insatiable need is healthy. It is normal. It is something we have to yield to and that we shouldn’t pathologize mother’s reactions to. It’s okay that babies are needy. It’s okay that that need can feel difficult. It’s also okay-good even-to say that we have to find ways to move through those desperate moments rather than giving up, as a matter of true care for mothers and babies.
Guilt and Obligatory Niceties
On their about page, the company proudly panders to the same idea that formula companies also love to push-the idea that there is some phantom breastfeeding menace that is all-powerful and yielding guilt over all mothers. They state that they are “fed up with feeling guilty about how we feed our babies. BIOMILQ is working to close the nutritional gap between infant feeding options.” The nutritional gap that exists due the same corporate greed of formula companies that they pretend to be above.
On the same about page, in the FAQ where one of the questions is “Are you trying to replace breastfeeding?” they state “Never! As a team that includes mothers and parents, we believe strongly that there is no one right way to care for a child, and every family must make decisions that are best for them. Breastfeeding can be a profound experience (we love that!) AND breastfeeding can be profoundly challenging (we. feel. you.); we believe both of these can be true at the same time.”
Stating that there is no right way to care for babies and following it up with how profoundly challenging breastfeeding can be on a website that exists solely to market a breastmilk-replacement product and then essentially throwing in a obligatory “but yeah, breastfeeding can be great!” is so obviously patronizing to the reader I can hardly stand it. The thing is, there is a right way to feed babies. The truth of that statement is a truth that can be twisted to hurt feelings and cause rifts between mothers that nurse and mothers that don’t, but it still stands. Looking to fancy bio-tech companies to be our infant-feeding saviors isn’t the way to handle the very legitimate challenges of breastfeeding, no matter how much they want you to think it is.
Man-Milk?
When I previously did a bit of a deep dive into this company upon learning of it’s existence, I listened to several podcasts where founders Michelle Egger and Leila Strickland were interviewed. The most striking comment I noticed came from Michelle, where she stated the following:
“We can take a cell sample from anyone, male or female, and produce their milk. You know, it’s so strange, milk- it’s the elixir of life, it supports all of the mammalian life on the planet and yet there is such a strong ingratiation in our culture-and in humanity-of like, how MOTHERING is associated with milk. We are able to take a cell sample and grow up what your cells would make outside the body and can make a custom product.”
Oh, if only I could convey the sort of gleeful dismay in the voice of this CEO and co-founder when she said the word “mothering” in reference to it’s association with milk via text, I would (you can listen yourself in the Evolve.ag podcast above if you so wish). Because how silly and old-fashioned is it to associate breastmilk with mothers? You know, the people who make it naturally and not in a lab? Let us remember, milk isn’t a product unless it is made in a lab. Mothering and milk are synonymous for a reason. Milk is a human bodily fluid, a tangible form of love, a precious gift from mother to child, infused with the perfect ingredients for individual babies by individual mothers. Often imitated, never duplicated-and certainly not by a man.
Are we shocked though? That a company seeking to profit from the insecurities and struggles of women doesn’t consider breastfeeding to be within the unique realm of womanhood? On their website is the token inclusivity article: "Lactation is Not Only For Cisgender Biological Mothers", where they state “A recent peer-reviewed study of induced lactation opens new possibilities for trans women, offering the potential for inclusion into experiencing a previously biologically female-only experience and offering their babies the benefits of breastmilk.” And there it is, the smarter-and-more-open-minded-than-you scientists aligning with males who want to force lactation upon their bodies and implicate babies in their fetishes. What a perfect alliance! Men with lactation hang ups and a company that can charge them to make their specific, special man-milk! A match made in hell, if you will.
The opportunity to entice trans identified males is not lost, as they close the article out by stating: “BIOMILQ recognizes the importance of offering the nutrition of human milk to all parents, regardless of biology. So, if parents decide that initiating lactation isn’t the right path for them once there is a more established clinical treatment, cell-cultured human milk may provide what they’re looking for.” What this entire article is missing is the recognition that any time a newborn is given any sort of supplementation, the milk supply of the mother is potentially threatened. Let’s say a trans-identified male gets his genuinely female partner pregnant and they have a baby. If that baby is forced to drink “father’s milk” (whether produced in that person by way of induced lactation protocols involving pharmaceuticals or produced outside of that person by Biomilq) in order to affirm the gender identity of that trans-identified man, that baby is missing out on the complete and perfect nutrition that his mother’s milk should be providing him. In this same scenario, every time that baby isn’t at the breast of his mother and is instead at the chest of the “father” or is drinking a bottle of gender-affirmation-fluid, the mother’s body is losing the opportunity to recieve the stimulation it needs in order to continue to make the right amount of breast milk for that baby. Have you ever in your life heard a bigger lose-lose situation?! This isn’t serving babies, it is serving adults.
Milk Money
Who is funding this project? Well, you may have heard Bill Gates mentioned in relation to this company, which is accurate, and he isn’t the only big name backing them, as mentioned in the article linked above:
“The company recently closed a $21 million Series A financing round led by Danish life science investor Novo Holdings and clean tech financier Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the latter of which was founded by a who’s who of high-profile billionaires: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Michael Bloomberg, and Mark Zuckerberg.”
The article goes on to mention that some of the company’s financial backers are also in the business of funding other companies that exist to “disrupt the animal protein business”like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods and that Biomilq’s co-founders are passionate about phasing out animal protein farming in order to offset the carbon footprint. Fake milk, fake meat.
The picture this paints is a newly postpartum mother who needs the deep nourishment of animal products instead eating things like Beyond Burger and wondering why she feels so depleted. Meanwhile, her newborn baby is losing out on important aspects of the unique breastfeeding relationship she could have with her mother, as well as the unique nutrition her mother’s milk offers her because she is being fed bottles of Biomilq by her Dad and Grandma. The mother wonders why she feels physically undernourished, the baby wonders where her mother’s breast is, Bill Gates&Co gets their investment back.
What We Can’t Afford to Forget
That unique nutrition is a point I want to highlight. Biomilq points it out themselves, as seen in the below screenshot from their site. “The real time composition dynamics” is actually a beautiful way to describe it. The body of a baby speaks to the body of her mother and the mother responds accordingly, in a perfect orchestra of biological give and take. Nutrients, hormones, antibodies, love, care, eye contact, kisses, tears, warmth, skin to skin temperature regulation, heart beats. Biomilq only offers a small portion of those things, yet they are perfectly happy to point out what’s wrong with breastmilk, as if potential exposure to something like “food allergens” (which makes it sounds like every baby has some sort of inherent food allergy-just another worry to push on new moms) is a valid reason to use their product which lacks both all of the metaphysical and some of the tangible ingredients of breastfeeding and breast milk. We should not be placing trust in a company that seeks to replace breast milk (no matter how much they deny it) who is perfectly happy to point out any potential negative of that substance in order to gain favor and attention.
Why do I care? I care because this is a threat to the sanctity of mother-baby bond. I care due to the unanticipated consequences to both mothers and babies. I care about the insertion of technology where it shouldn’t be welcomed. I care because the insinuation that milk is tainted or imperfect is a slight to the integrity of what is in actuality the most perfect. I care because technology like this takes the attention away from what we need to be focused on: the lack of the healthy prioritization of family, mothers, and babies and breastfeeding in society. Women need real, tangible and meaningful support. We need more time with our babies. We need partners that are encouraging and mentally strong. This is the answer, not “alternative”milk.
I propose an alternative to alternative milk, and that alternative means seeking out the wonder in the act of breastfeeding. I say “MAKE BREASTFEEDING ENCHANTING AGAIN”. Let us reimagine this act that is practical, yes, but so much more than practicality. Lab-made human milk is the least enchanting or wonderous thing I have ever read about. Fascinating in a technical way, maybe. Enchanting and beautiful and transformational, like nursing a baby is, no. The breakdown of the most basic of human animal acts into a formula of macronutrients started by cell lines, made in a sterile lab by people who are funded by the wealthiest of wealthy, is an affront to the way of things. Every step away from the mother-baby dyad being upheld is a step away from ourselves. The abandonment of the mammalian self is the destruction of our foundational footing. Instead of leaning so far away from this piece of our physiological legacy, we must decidedly careen in the opposite direction, the direction where we rediscover the enchanting nature of the bond of a mother and child bound by duty and need, love and resolve. Let us make the conscious choice to re-enchant this relationship, that of breastfeeding, rather than delving further down the modern path of disillusionment and disassociation with the aide of “mammary biotechnology”.