They Look Great But Don't Lactate:

Why Post-Mastectomy Moms Need More

There is a policy gap in this country that doesn't get nearly enough attention and it directly affects breast cancer survivors who are also new mothers.

Right now, under the Affordable Care Act, survivors and previvors impacted by breast and gynecologic cancers are entitled to a free breast pump and lactation support through their insurance. On the surface, that sounds like support. But here's the reality: if you've had a mastectomy, a breast pump doesn't feed your baby. It can't. And yet, insurance offers zero coverage for infant formula or donor milk — the things that actually will.

We're proud to amplify the work of two organizations doing something about it: The Breasties and Bobbie.

A Five-Year Partnership With Real Impact

The Breasties is the first all-inclusive nonprofit creating community for survivors, previvors, thrivers, and carevivors impacted by breast and gynecologic cancers. For the past five years, they've partnered with Bobbie — the only mom-founded and women-led infant formula company in the U.S. — through the Bobbie Breasties Program.

Together, they've provided medically necessary infant feeding support, education, resources, and community for parents navigating cancer and new parenthood simultaneously. To date, the program has supported over 615 parents — real families who needed formula to feed their babies and had nowhere else to turn.

That number is remarkable. It's also a symptom of a broken system, because no single company should have to carry the weight of what insurance policy has failed to provide.

Connie's Bill

The campaign goes beyond community support. The Breasties and Bobbie are now pushing for lasting policy change through The Constance C. McDaniel Medically Necessary Infant Formula and Donor Milk Act — known as Connie's Bill.

The bill is named after Constance C. McDaniel, a Bobbie Breastie from the very first cohort of the program, who tragically passed away last year. Her legacy is now the foundation of legislation that would create a federal pilot program to provide insurance coverage for infant formula and donor milk when medically necessary.

Right now, the law only considers formula and donor milk coverage when the baby has a diagnosed medical condition. A mother who physically cannot breastfeed because cancer took that option from her doesn't qualify. That needs to change.

The Gap Is Absurd When You Say It Out Loud

Let's just be direct about what's happening here.

A woman survives breast cancer. She has a mastectomy. She becomes a mother. Her insurance offers her a breast pump and lactation support — neither of which can help her, because she no longer has the breast tissue required to produce milk. Meanwhile, the infant formula or donor milk that her baby actually needs to survive? Not covered.

This isn't a technicality. This is a family being handed a useless benefit while the thing their child needs to eat goes unfunded.

As The Breasties and Bobbie put it: access to formula or donor breast milk isn't a nice-to-have — it's a matter of survival. The insurance coverage of infant formula or donor milk should be bundled with a parent's breast cancer treatment coverage to ensure insurance equality.

We agree completely.

How You Can Help Right Now

The Breasties and Bobbie have made it easy to take action. Here's what you can do today:

Write to your representative in support of Connie's Bill.

Bobbie has built a simple tool that makes it quick and straightforward. Click the link below to write your rep. Bobbie already wrote the letter for you—just add your name and hit send. Their goal is to send 5,000 letters to Congress and get Connie’s Bill introduced.

A Note From Us at Perky

We have to say something here because this is close to home for us.

At Perky, we do beautiful work. We create 3D nipple tattoos for women after mastectomy and breast reconstruction, and we have seen firsthand how transformative that final step can be. We've watched women look in the mirror and cry happy tears. We've heard from clients who said they finally felt like themselves again. We are proud of every single piece we create.

And we know, better than most, that it isn't enough on its own.

They look great but don't lactate.

A 3D nipple tattoo can restore something profound. It can close a chapter, mark an ending, help a woman reclaim her body as her own. But it cannot feed a baby.

It cannot fill the policy gap that leaves new mothers after mastectomy without coverage for the one thing their infant actually needs.

Post-mastectomy women deserve support that goes far beyond what we can offer in a tattoo studio. They deserve insurance that actually reflects their reality. They deserve a system that looks at a mother who cannot breastfeed because cancer took that from her, and responds with something useful.

Connie's Bill is a step toward that. We're behind it fully, and we hope you will be too.

Take Action

Help us advocate for parents who are medically unable to breastfeed by writing your reps, and raising awareness about Connie’s Bill on social. 

To learn more about The Breasties and the community they've built, visit thebreasties.org.

If you're a breast cancer survivor or previvor who is pregnant or a new parent and needs feeding support, the Bobbie Breasties Program opens applications annually — visit the link above to get on the notification list.

Together, we can close this gap.

For Connie. For every Breastie who comes after her.