After years of blogging about being a breastfeeding father of two, Winnipeg’s Trevor MacDonald has authored a book about his unique journey.
“There are a lot of people that want, I think, to better understand transgender lives, so I really wanted to try to share that story,†MacDonald told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel Friday. "I wanted to dig really deeply into what it actually is like to be a transgender parent and to live as a transgender person.â€
Published this month, builds on MacDonald’s about parenting, breastfeeding and life as transgender man in a gay relationship in rural Manitoba.
MacDonald, who carried both of his children to term, made headlines in 2012 after his application to be a lactation coach with La Leche League Canada, part of an international breastfeeding support group, was denied on the grounds of his gender identity. After MacDonald went public with the rejection, La Leche League Canada reversed its policy.
MacDonald’s book, which began as a letter to his parents, describes learning how to change diapers, driving around Winnipeg to collect milk donations and the struggles and joys of nursing after chest surgery.
“I think the best piece of advice or information that I ever got from someone before becoming a parent was about how breastfeeding, or chestfeeding, a child isn't just about the milk, that it`s about the nursing relationship,†MacDonald says. “I was able to have a really amazing nursing relationship with both my children.â€