http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_lactation


Male lactation
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The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a man's mammary glands. Though boys and men have nipples, many are unaware that they also have mammary glands. In ordinary circumstances, there is so little mammary tissue that it is unnoticeable; if the male breasts develop visibly, the condition is called gynecomastia. Under the appropriate hormonal stimulus—that nature provides to human females when they become pregnant and give birth—the mammary glands of human males can also produce milk.[1] The volume of milk produced is low relative to that of a lactating female. Newborn baby boys (and girls) can occasionally produce milk because of the intense hormones involved in their mother's pregnancy and the hours of childbirth; this is called witch's milk.

Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. Female hormones are used to slow the production of cancerous prostate tissue, but the same hormones also stimulate the mammary glands. Male-to-female transsexuals may also produce milk owing to the hormones they take to reshape their bodies. It can occasionally be a side-effect of antipsychotic medication. Extreme stress combined with demanding physical activity and a shortage of food has also been known to cause male lactation. The phenomenon occurred in survivors of the liberated Nazi concentration camps after World War II.[1] Some American POWs returning from the Korean and Vietnam Wars also experienced male lactation. Anthropolist Barry Hewlett has observed male breastfeeding among certain Pygmies of central Africa for whom "male and female roles are virtually interchangeable".[2] The phenomenon has also been observed in isolated cases in other parts of the world.[3]

The phenomenon of male lactation occurs in some non-human species, notably the Dayak fruit bat (Dyacopterus spadiceus), and the lactating males may assist in the nursing of their infants. In addition, male goats are known to lactate on occasion.[4]

In Why Is Sex Fun?, Jared Diamond reports of male and female cancer patients being treated with estrogen who proceeded to lactate when injected with prolactin, and suggests that mechanical stimulation of male breasts, by releasing prolactin, could result in lactation. He also mentions teenage boys lactating after self stimulation of their nipples.[5]

Are the men of the African Aka tribe the best fathers in the world?While the women hunt, the men look after the babies - even letting them suck their nipples. Joanna Moorhead asks anthropologist Barry Hewlett why the Aka are such unusual parents
The Guardian, Wednesday June 15 2005 Article historyIt's a question that has united Aristotle, Darwin and my three-year-old in puzzlement: what exactly are male nipples for ? This week, the charity Fathers Direct came up with an answer, courtesy of some research it unearthed about a nomadic tribe of African hunter-gatherers. The answer, it seems, is the one my three-year-old (and Darwin, to be fair) suspected all along: male nipples are there as a stand-in for when mum isn't around and there's a squawking bambino in dire need of something to suck.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/jun...ndrelationships

Really needed to know that! TMI!

Yea I'm with Adullam on that 1.

We have nipples?

Well its official.... I'm no longer useless... (oink)

Amen!

We're more than just a pretty face!

I feel I must apologize for my sense of humor , but when I need a laugh, all I do is re-read all your responses.

All verry funny! (even though they may not be meant so).

But, Godsword, yours wins the prize.

Nipple nabbers unite...