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A nursing mom has gone viral after sharing her harrowing story of being harassed by TSA agents for trying to bring through security the ice packs she used to keep her baby's bottles cold.
Emily Calandrelli's story has drawn particularly wide interest given the U.S.'s extremely dire national shortage of infant formula owning to the supply-chain crisis and a contamination outbreak at one of the country's largest manufacturing facilities.
Her story has also sparked many other mothers to share their own experiences with traveling white breastfeeding, underlying how widespread a problem this seems to be.
Calandrelli shared her story on Good Morning America and in a Twitter thread, seen below.
Yesterday I took down my posts about how @TSA treated me at @flyLAXairport. I was embarrassed at how emotional I was. I was anxious about the confrontation. So I deleted it. \n\nBut they make too many mothers feel this way, so I\u2019m going to talk about it bc this needs to stop pic.twitter.com/MIZchi8M6k— Emily Calandrelli (@Emily Calandrelli) 1652181488
Calandrelli, who is host of Netflix's Emily's Wonder Lab, has a 10-month old son, for whom she was hoping to pump milk before her five hour flight from Los Angeles to Washington D.C.
But when she attempted to go through security with the ice packs she would need for the trip, but two male agents forbid her from doing so because one of the packs was not frozen solid, which TSA requires.
Calandrelli had not yet frozen the second pack because she did not need it until her trip home.
Calandrelli says the agents repeatedly told her that she should have brought her milk with her, and questioned her about the whereabouts of her baby, assuming the baby not being with her meant she didn't need to pump her milk.
I asked to speak to someone else & they had their boss come over & he told me the same.\n\nHe said \u201cif you had milk on you, this wouldn\u2019t be a problem.\u201d\n\nHe asked (*multiple times*) \u201cwell WHERE is the baby.\u201d He said if my child was with me, it wouldn\u2019t be an issue.— Emily Calandrelli (@Emily Calandrelli) 1652181666
That assumption is incorrect—women must continue to regularly pump milk in order to keep it from drying up, as well as to avoid infections like mastitis that affect lactating women's breasts.
And it turned out that wasn't the only thing the TSA agents were wrong about.
But guess what? They were wrong. TSA rules specifically state that you are allowed to have gel ice packs (regardless if they are fully frozen!!) for medically necessary purposes. And emptying my breasts on a regular schedule and providing food for my child IS medically necessary.pic.twitter.com/24Q44YzxOf— Emily Calandrelli (@Emily Calandrelli) 1652181768
TSA rules about ice packs state they do not need to be frozen if they are medically necessary, which they are in Calandrelli's case.
Calandrelli described the experience as a humiliating invasion of her privacy.
She said her DMs were flooded by other mothers who'd had similar experiences.
Yesterday I was humiliated that I had to explain to 3 grown men that my breasts still produce milk when I\u2019m not with my child. Yesterday I was embarrassed telling them about my fear of mastitis if I didn\u2019t pump. Today I\u2019m furious. @TSA— Emily Calandrelli (@Emily Calandrelli) 1652182204
People on Twitter shared Calandrelli's outrage, and plenty of parents had stories of their own as well.
Way too large a segment of our society purports to care about babies being born, yet cares very little for anything that happens afterward. Child care also includes the health and well-being of mothers and a respect for what they do, which unfortunately is sorely lacking.— Jason Grant (@Jason Grant) 1652188394
A bad moment is when an innocent mom discovers she is accused of being untrustworthy, with all the unjust consequences.\n\nI empathize with you on that.\n\nFrom a safety point of view, did they err on safety or on humanity, and was it "pre-warned/informed" avoidable by either of you?— I see, with glasses \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 (@I see, with glasses \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1) 1652183967
At this point, does the TSA even REMEMBER why they limit liquids? Are there explosives that can be frozen? This needs to just stop. When I think of all the drinks, perfume, lotion ect\u2026 have they EVER caught anyone else trying to blow up a plane???— READY PLAYER ONE-#Resistor Tasha \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf08 (@READY PLAYER ONE-#Resistor Tasha \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf08) 1652187479
I asked for breast milk to be hand checked instead of going through the scanner&TSA said it wasn\u2019t allowed.I explained that they had done it the week before and they told me I was lying.There is more to the story but overall it was a horrific experience I was in tears.— Brenda Kobrin (@Brenda Kobrin) 1652204203
In 2017, I sobbed on a dirty zoo bathroom floor, on a field trip as a teacher. 4 staff members insisted I could nurse my baby anywhere; but had NO accommodations for pumping! I snapped a pic, went viral and helped change MI law w/the breast feeding network\u2019s help. Keep advocatingpic.twitter.com/jA2IMGVcKb— Angie V (@Angie V) 1652264578
I'm sorry you went through this. I was awestruck watching my wife plan our first trip away. With planning supply weeks ahead of time, continuing while away, and not to mention storage, timing and physical locations, it is quite the burden on mothers to do right for your children.— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Not Florida Man\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6Not Florida Man\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1652184201
We SHOULDN\u2019T HAVE TO print out their own rules and bring it to the airport with us. We shouldn\u2019t have to explain their own rules to them. If there\u2019s any disagreement, they should stop and go review the rule word for word so they can cite their source for us. This is ridiculous.— zombiezeni (@zombiezeni) 1652247803
So sorry to hear about your experience. The inconsistency of @TSA at so many airports is inexcusable. The whole thing is security theater anyway - there is no need for most of the actions they make us take.— Dr. Kiki Sanford (@Dr. Kiki Sanford) 1652202449
I am so sorry for you. This is outrageous. The thing I took from this thread is your strength \u2014 women, mothers in particular, have a strength I am constantly in awe of. Keep fighting and talking \u2014 you\u2019re going to make people think. And that will create change.— Vix Reitano (@Vix Reitano) 1652185392
TSA told Good Morning America it is reviewing the incident and will implement further training for agents if it deems it necessary based on the inquiry's findings.