Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at a workshop for families considering adoption and/or surrogacy.  The topic of my presentation was Breastfeeding for the Adoptive or Intended (through surrogacy) Mother.  Most of the families in the audience had no idea that a woman could breastfeed without birthing her child and their faces just lit up when I discussed that this was a possibilty for them.  

While I have worked with several mothers in San Diego to induce lactation for an adopted baby or baby born by surrogate, I thought I would invite my colleague, Alyssa Schnell, to answer a few questions about this process.  Not only has Alyssa personally experienced inducing lactation for her adopted daughter, but she also recently published a book on this topic as well, titled Breastfeeding Without Birthing:  A Breastfeeding Guide for Mothers Through Adoption, Surrogacy, and Other Special Circumstances (Praeclarus Press, 2013)