Andi Dorfman has taken to social media to explain why her newborn daughter, Harper, is “fully formula fed.”
Dorfman, 37, who gave birth to the child, her first and whom she shares with husband Blaine Hart, on December 20, 2024, candidly explained her feeding method via a series of Instagram Stories on Thursday, January 9.
Revealing that fans had DM’d her to see if she’d been breastfeeding her child, the former Bachelorette detailed her situation.
“Okay, first and foremost, my sister and I both were formula-fed babies. So I feel like that was kind of always within my plan,” Dorfman said. “And then I was going to use the breast pump in order to feed her breast milk, and that way I knew how much she was getting.”
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Dorfman said that her baby’s unexpected stay within the NICU, where Harper was fed formula, altered her feeding plans.
“So I, in the hospital, tried to pump but my milk had not come in yet,” Dorfman continued. “She was actually doing really well on the formula so we brought a lot of that home from the hospital. I tried to pump a couple times when we got home and my milk supplies still had not come in yet.”
Dorfman went on, “So we just kept on the formula. And then, big wrench got thrown in the plans — as you know, I ended up having to have surgery myself. So that, I feel like, kind of stalled the pumping as well.” The reality TV star was referring to her return to hospital after she was discharged following her baby’s birth, as a result of two hematomas, which are closed wounds where bloody pools are unable to drain out, per Cleveland Clinic.
Dorfman, who married Hart in Italy in May 2023, said she tried to pump “one or two more times,” however was unable to produce any milk.
“Weird part is I never had pain,” Dorfman added. “I didn’t have any engorgements, I didn’t have those side effects that people talk about when they stop pumping. I just kind of skipped over that. I don’t know if that’s because my milk supply just never came in and wasn’t going to or if I kind of missed the window of opportunity or honestly if it was just the plan making its own plan. But here we are.”
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Dorfman added that Harper is thriving as she approaches one month in the world. “I hope this story helps somebody,” Dorfman said. “I don’t know why there’s so much judgment and stigma when it comes to breastfeeding or formula feeding or not doing one or the other. But that’s my story. We’re sticking to it.”
The new mom appeared on Juan Pablo Galavis’ season 18 of The Bachelor in 2014, before becoming the next Bachelorette. On her season, Dorfman got engaged to Josh Murray only to split from him within months.
