submitted by Choice Mom Kari
When I first learned that adoptive moms can breastfeed, as I was waiting to adopt, I presumed that these must be women who previously had biological children. Instead I found out that you can produce milk even if you have never been pregnant (men can actually produce milk too!).

Breastfeeding has so many wonderful benefits, but the bonding and nutrition were the two that made me decide that I wanted to try it.

My doctor was very supportive and thought it was a wonderful idea, but the protocol that was suggested online wasn't approved for use in the U.S.

The protocol suggested taking birth control pills for a certain amount of time, and then taking domperidone for a certain amount of time. Since my doctor wasn't able to prescribe domperidone, I ended up ordering it online. I didn't want to take birth control pills, so I ended up just starting the domperidone, and I began pumping with a breast pump.

For the first few weeks I pumped about 3 or 4 times a day during the week and more often on the weekends. I wasn't seeing many results, but my breasts were tender and much larger. At one point I noticed that my breasts were a little wet. At first I thought it was just sweat because it was summer, then I realized that it was milk.

I continued to pump until I was actually able to collect some of the milk. It was exciting to be able to store the milk in the freezer while I was waiting for my daughter to come home.

When I got my referral, my daughter was 10 months old. By the time I traveled she was 13 months old. I had been warned that a baby this age might not be interested in the breast, but to keep trying.

When I finally was united with my daughter and took her back to the hotel, I decided to try and offer the breast. She did NOT like being put in the "baby" position and looked at me like I was crazy trying to put that in her mouth.

While I was in China I ended up not having time to pump like I had thought I would. I decided to wait until I got home to try it again. Once I got home I was so exhausted with having a new baby that I ended up not continuing with the breastfeeding.

I was able to give my daughter about 12 bottles of my breast milk that I had pumped before going to China. So my original goal of giving her breast milk for the nutritional value was achieved. The bonding benefit wasn't accomplished through breastfeeding, but luckily we were able to bond very easily. When I adopt my next child, I hope that I will be able to stick with breastfeeding.