Gender Benders

It's Monday morning, and I am excited to see everyone with beards. It's like having a whole slew of fresh faces in the office. I'm starting to feel a little left out. I can't help but wonder, if a woman wanted to join in the contest badly enough, could she grow a beard? Aside from hormone overload or freakish genetics, can a woman grow a beard by sheer willpower alone?

Maybe.

According to Milkmen: Fathers who Breastfeed, author Laura Shanley's husband David used "power of the mind" to will himself to nourish their newborn. I know many of you are wondering if something as beautiful and miraculous as this could be a once in a millennium event. But I assure you, David is not the first!

Widower Learns to Breastfeed
A Sri Lankan widower has attracted the attention of doctors for his ability to breastfeed his young daughter.
Mr B Wijeratne, from Walapanee, near Colombo, took to breastfeeding her soon after his wife died three months ago while giving birth to their second child.

His elder daughter, 18-month-old Nisansala Madhushani, was so used to her mother's milk that she would not take formula milk.
Mr Wijeratne told Sinhalese language newspaper Lankadeepa: "My child would reject the powdered milk I tried feeding through a bottle.
"Unable to see her cry I offered my breast. That's when I discovered that I could breastfeed her."
The 38-year-old's ability to produce milk was noticed by doctors at the government hospital in the town of Kurunegala.
Dr Kamal Jayasinghe, a spokesman for the hospital, said: "Men with a hyperactive prolactine hormone can produce breast milk."
His younger daughter, who has still to be named, has taken to powdered milk.

Where there's a will, there's a way! Now, who has the will?