Outrage After Breastfeeding Conference Books Speaker Who Said Men May Lactate for 'Sexual Gratification'

A leading Irish women's rights campaigner has accused a state-funded lactation body of enabling child abuse, in a row that has forced the Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland (ALCI) to pause ticket sales for its October conference in Galway.

The controversy follows weeks of mounting protest from breastfeeding advocates, a local councillor, and campaign groups.

At the centre of the storm is Jacob Engelsman, a US-based speaker whose past talks on 'inducing lactation for kinksters' at fetish conventions have collided with his invitation to address one of Ireland's most established breastfeeding organisations.

Engelsman's book notes that motivations for inducing lactation can include 'curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification', according to reporting corroborated across multiple Irish regional titles.

The Speaker and the Sex-Attachment Claims

Engelsman was due to speak at the ALCI's annual conference in Galway on 9 and 10 October 2026, on the subject of 'lactation support for gender-diverse families'. He was also listed to deliver a second talk, titled 'Communicating Inclusively: Creating Gender-Affirming Clinical Spaces for Families'.

In his book, Lactation for the Rest of Us: A Guide for Queer and Trans Parents and Helpers, Engelsman wrote that men's motivations for attempting to lactate include the desire to feed babies, as well as 'curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification'.

He has also previously addressed fetish conventions on the subject of 'inducing lactation for kinksters', according to reporting corroborated across multiple Irish regional titles.

Neither Engelsman nor the ALCI responded to media queries on the matter. The ALCI has stated on its website that it is not responsible for the content of presentations at its conference and does not necessarily endorse the personal views of its speakers.

The Child Abuse Accusation

The sharpest condemnation has come from Jill Nesbitt of Women's Space Ireland, one of several sex-based rights groups that had pledged to protest in Galway if Engelsman's talk went ahead. 'It's a perversion to suggest that men can put a baby to their nipples or attempt to lactate,' Nesbitt said.

She drew a direct line between the practice and child safeguarding. 'Breastfeeding mothers are very careful in what they eat or drink in order not to harm their child and put their baby's best interests first,' Nesbitt said. 'Men attempting to lactate to feed a baby is child abuse.'

Nesbitt went further, framing the matter as one of consent. 'A baby can't consent to being used as a prop for a man's sexual fetish,' she claimed. Nesbitt's comments were made as part of a broader criticism of the ALCI's decision to platform Engelsman, not as an allegation of specific conduct.

She dismissed the ALCI's disclaimer that it does not endorse speakers' personal views as a 'cop-out', and questioned why a publicly funded body would platform Engelsman at all. She was not alone.

Aontú Councillor Emer Tóibín also raised the matter directly with the ALCI, saying she had been contacted by midwives and lactation consultants 'deeply unhappy' about the invitation. Tóibín warned of 'an increasing effort to embed gender ideology' within Irish maternal and infant healthcare provision.

State Funding and Official Defence

The controversy carries an added political edge because the ALCI receives public money.

Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) provides the organisation with annual grant funding of roughly £7,700 ($10,400), alongside membership fees and conference income, according to reporting on the HSE's grant arrangements.

The HSE initially defended the booking. A spokeswoman said an increasing number of babies were being born into 'diverse family structures', and that giving ALCI practitioners the skills to support 'families of all structures and backgrounds' was 'necessary and in line with equality legislation and inclusion strategies in Ireland'.

The ALCI separately said its invitation to Engelsman was 'consistent with' the Irish Government's National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy. That defence has not quelled the backlash.

On its website, the ALCI subsequently announced a change to its advertised programme 'due to unforeseen circumstances on health and safety grounds'. The organisation stated: 'We have paused ticket sales and temporarily removed this timetable and speaker details from our website while Council meets to consider next steps.'

Irish regional press has since reported that the Galway hotel booking for the conference was cancelled outright. Pressure from protest groups and campaigners continued to build in the days before the event's scheduled October date.

The episode has reignited a wider debate in Ireland over how gender-inclusive policy intersects with maternal healthcare, at a time when the country already records one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe. For campaigners such as Nesbitt, the dispute is not academic: it is, in her words, a question of what a baby can and cannot consent to.

The ALCI has not confirmed whether the conference will proceed on its scheduled October dates. The HSE has not responded to further queries on whether it will review its funding arrangement.