'Breastfeeding' Dads Campaign Aims to Get Men More Involved

Sensitive Tennessee dad Hector Cruz is tired of “dumbed down” father roles comprised of adjusting car seats and putting together cribs. So, in an effort to help bring men more into the meaningful fold of parenting, he’s launched an awareness campaign, "Project: Breastfeeding," and is using some provocative images to get everyone’s attention: shirtless dads trying to breastfeed, and the phrase, “If I could, I would.”

“Let’s be honest, we have to get conversations started in a very dramatic way,” Cruz, the photographer behind the project, tells Yahoo Shine. “What better way than by showing photos like these?” (Last year, a Chicago campaign aiming to decrease teen-pregnancy rates used images of “pregnant” boys to make a splash, kicking up plenty of controversy, too.)

Project: Breastfeeding,” which kicked off this week with a bit of fanfare, has several aims: to dissolve the stigma around public breastfeeding, and to get fathers more involved in breastfeeding efforts and in parenting in general. “The ultimate goal is to just help get fathers educated about the benefits of breastfeeding, and to help empower women,” he says. 


When Cruz’s wife encountered pain and other difficulties in breastfeeding their now 4-month-old daughter, they went to a local nursing support group — but Cruz was not allowed into the room. It was not the first time he’s felt frustrated about wanting, but not necessarily knowing how, to support his new family. And he believes plenty of other men feel the same way. “I think it all starts in the medical office [during pregnancy],” he says. “We usually sit in the corner and are not talked to, but talked past.” But, Cruz believes, “Being on my wife’s side makes things easier.”

As part of the effort, he’s asking for donations to help him continue taking photos of “breastfeeding” dads, which he intends to use as part of a national conscious-raising poster campaign in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week, in August. Looking further ahead, he’d also like to launch national co-ed breastfeeding support classes, taught by women and men together. In May, Cruz will travel to Uganda with the organization Mama Hope, in an attempt to help get fathers more involved in supporting their wives’ breastfeeding efforts.

As may have been expected, Cruz’s well-meaning efforts have already been slammed—particularly by Jezebel, which has called the campaign “condescending,” “annoying” and “useless.” (Daddy blogger Matt Walsh was mercilessly criticized in 2013 after writing a piece defending stay-at-home moms.) But Cruz says that just comes with the territory.

“I realize I’m opening myself to a lot of criticism here,” he notes, adding, “[The Jezebel story] was pretty rough, but I think they missed the point, which is part of the problem.”