Transgender breastfeeding row: Transwoman ordered by tribunal to reveal hormone use after feeding baby
A transgender woman at the centre of a bitter breastfeeding row has been ordered to reveal what hormones she takes and what was in the liquid she fed her baby.
Jennifer Adrian Buckley is suing Jasmine Sussex, an Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) counsellor, over descriptions of her as a ‘man pretending to be a woman’, ‘a child abuser’ and someone who adopted a ‘delusional queer theory take’ on breastfeeding.
Ms Sussex scored a significant win last week as a Queensland tribunal overturned a previous key ruling in the explosive vilification battle.
Senior Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) members Ned Aughterson and Samantha Traves found fellow tribunal member Peter Bridgman made errors of law that resulted in a ‘substantial miscarriage of justice’.
The Appeal Tribunal set aside Mr Bridgman’s finding that the details of Ms Buckley’s induced lactation and the substance she fed to her child had no relevance on whether Ms Sussex had unlawfully vilified her.
Mr Bridgman previously ruled it was Ms Sussex’s ‘acts that are tested’ and not those of Ms Buckley. He said medical treatment, the composition of fluids produced through induced lactation, and the qualifications of her practitioners were ‘simply not relevant to the matter’.
Mr Bridgman also found the requests were ‘unnecessarily intimate’, and described them as a serious intrusion into Ms Buckley’s privacy.
However, the Appeal Tribunal disagreed and found the information could be relevant to aspects of Ms Sussex’s defence, including whether her conduct was reasonable, undertaken in good faith, and in the public interest.
Transwoman Jennifer Buckley (right) is pictured with her newborn son and wife, Sandi in 2019
Jasmine Sussex (pictured) was sacked from her role as a volunteer councillor for the Australian Breastfeeding Association after refusing to use transgender-neutral language
Senior QCAT members overturned a January ruling by fellow tribunal member Peter Bridgman (pictured) finding he made errors of law that resulted in a ‘substantial miscarriage of justice’
Ms Buckley, who transitioned from male to female and is the biological father of the child, has until September 16 to provide details about the induction of lactation, including whether hormones were used, the nature of any medical supervision, and the composition of the substance produced and fed to the baby.
Ms Buckley has previously claimed she successfully induced lactation and breastfed her newborn son in 2019 under the supervision of endocrinologist Naomi Achong.
The paramedic previously posted on social media that she had taken hormones to grow breasts and the drug domperidone to increase prolactin in an attempt to induce lactation.
Dr Achong, whose PhD research focused on breastfeeding, previously said her experience with breastfeeding by transgender women had been positive.
The vilification dispute has been making its way through QCAT since Ms Buckley lodged a complaint with the Queensland Human Rights Commission in late 2023 over online comments made by Ms Sussex between 2021 and 2023.
As part of her defence, Ms Sussex’s legal team sought details about the treatment used to induce lactation, the qualifications of treating practitioners and the composition of the bodily fluid produced.
The information sought included the nature of the medical supervision, who provided it, how the lactation was induced, what qualified it as ‘lactation’ and how it was determined the fluid produced was ‘breast milk’.
In January, Mr Bridgman dismissed the application, ruling the material had ‘no bearing’ on whether Ms Sussex had ‘incited hatred’ against Ms Buckley or transgender women as a class and was therefore irrelevant to the case.
However, the Appeal Tribunal disagreed and found the information could be relevant to aspects of Ms Sussex’s defence, including whether her conduct was reasonable, undertaken in good faith and in the public interest.
Ms Buckley is pictured with her newborn son whom she breastfed after her endocrinologist prescribed medication to help her to begin lactation
The ABA publishes a guide, Breastfeeding, chestfeeding and human milk feeding: Supporting LGBTQIA+ families, which provides practical advice on feeding babies with human milk
The judges also referred to evidence from a medical doctor and bioethicist that ‘no evidence-based protocol to support the process of inducing lactation in a transgender woman has been published in academic literature and no longitudinal research exists regarding whether it is nutritionally adequate, nor whether there are any negative outcomes for the child’.
Ms Buckley has been contacted for comment through her solicitor, Kathleen Foley SC.
Ms Sussex has also been contacted for comment.
The ABA publishes a guide, Breastfeeding, chestfeeding and human milk feeding: Supporting LGBTQIA+ families, which provides practical advice on feeding babies with human milk.
The guide includes a chapter on lactation for transgender and gender-diverse people, stating it is possible for someone who has never been pregnant or given birth to produce milk.
Addressing hormone use, the booklet says induced lactation is a relatively new area of study and recommends a cautious approach.
It notes there may be unknown risks associated with lactating during or after hormone treatment, while also recognising the risks that can arise from stopping or delaying hormones prescribed to treat gender dysphoria.
The guide advises that decisions about hormone use and infant feeding should be made carefully and with the support of a medical professional.
