My baby boy was born with breasts that started to lactate

A MUM was left shocked after her baby boy started leaking milk from his nipples when he was just a week old.

Vanessa Moran said her hormones transferred over to little Kylan Sherrill during pregnancy so that he developed enlarged breast tissue.

The 28-year-old mum took Kylan to the doctors as she was worried there was something seriously wrong with him.

Vanessa, who is a mum-of-two, said he was then diagnosed with a rare condition called neonatal galactorrhea which affects just two per cent of babies worldwide, both male and female.

The condition is caused by high levels of oestrogen in the mother during pregnancy, which transfers over into the baby’s bloodstream via the placenta and stimulates breast tissue growth and milk production.

In order to raise awareness of the condition, Vanessa, from Indiana, US, has now shared footage of baby Kylan’s enlarged breasts lactating.

Vanessa said: “I noticed immediately that he didn’t have any nipples, they were inverted and then by the time he was a week old the tissue around the nipple started getting bigger.

“It looked like he had breasts and I thought that was really odd.

“Then a few days after that his nipples started leaking milk so I was freaking out – I’d never seen that before in a baby.

“I was really shocked and didn’t know what to do. I told his dad and he was really shocked as well.

“I thought something was wrong and worried it could be some type of infection or maybe even something life threatening.”

She explained that Kylan was really whiny and cried a lot as a newborn, but now she thinks that some of that was down to the fact that he was in pain.

“I knew I was having a boy during my pregnancy and he was born with boy parts but when I saw the enlarged breast tissue I thought maybe he had both boy and girl parts, it was really confusing”, she added.

Vanessa gave birth to Kylan on June 1, 2020, who weighed a healthy 7lbs 13oz.

‘EASE THE PAIN’

Just days later she realised his chest was enlarged and she made an appointment at the doctors.

“The doctor explained what it was and said it happens in about two percent of babies.

“She said my oestrogen levels were too high in pregnancy and somehow it transferred to him and got into his bloodstream, which is why it happened.

“There was nothing I could do for him really, we just had to wait until it went down on it’s own and couldn’t squeeze it or anything like that.

“Us women know that when your breasts are full of milk it’s sore, so the only thing I could do was put a warm rag on his chest to try and ease the pain it was causing him and leave his shirt off him for a while”, she said.

There is no treatment for getting rid of the enlarged tissue and milky discharge, as squeezing it out can cause more inflammation, abscesses and even promote milk production.

By the time Kylan reached one and half, his breasts reduced in size – meaning he didn’t have to see a specialist.

The mum, who works as a medical scheduler for a local hospital, avoided telling many people about her son’s rare condition when he was born, but has now shared their experience to raise awareness.

But Kylan’s older brother, Isaiah Sherrill, six, noticed and was curious about the unusual changes in his little brother’s chest.

Vanessa said: “I only told his dad and my sisters at the time because I didn’t want lots of people trying to diagnose him themself and telling me what I should do.

“His brother was five at the time so he noticed and was confused by it – he asked me if Kylan could drink his own milk because I was breastfeeding at the time so he knew that he drank my milk.

“By the time Kylan was one and a half months old his chest finally started going down and the milk started drying up.

“I was really relieved and just so happy that he was healthy and happy.”