Manitoba father who breastfeeds shares story to promote tolerance

Trevor MacDonald did not plan tobreastfeedhis children. After transitioning and undergoing chest-reduction surgery, the trangenderManitoba man didn't even know it was possible.

A book he read while pregnant five years ago changed that. Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery by Diana West convinced himit wouldn't hurt to try.

"Even a small amount of milk could be really valuable to my baby," he said."Breastfeeding is about more than the milk. It can be a relationship too and a whole way of parenting."

There were a few stumbles along the way to sucess, he said.

"The first time it was really, really challenging," he said."He wouldn't latch at all."

EventuallyMacDonald figured out what worked for his son, adapting his post-surgery body to facilitate feeding.He's nowapplying the lessons learned to his youngest child.

National project on diverse families

There are "more and more" places MacDonaldcan go to relate and share stories with other families going through similar experiences, he said.MacDonaldcreated aFacebooksupport group fortransgenderparents and ablog.

He is also part of the 1,000 Families Project, created by Toronto's Brandie Weikle. The online project will share first-person profiles of1,000 different families to capture the changing face of families in 2015.

Stories such asMacDonald'stell other unconventionalfamilies they aren't alone, Weikle said.

"The default voice in a lot ofparenting media still (assumes) that your family is headed by one mom, one dad, includes a couple of kids.If your family doesn't look like that, it can feel a little excluding," saidWeikle.

MacDonald hopes sharing his story will help the next generation express themselves and their values.

"Sharing stories about diversity is incredibly important," he said."I want my kids to grow up in a world where they can feel accepted for being who they are."