An Open Letter to a TSA Agent

Dear TSA Agent,

Thank you for all you do to keep us safe when we fly. Your job has always been difficult and loaded with pressure and responsibility, but these days, with COVID and all the extra precautions that come with it, I imagine your job is even harder.

But in your efforts to keep us safe, sometimes you forget that the person in front of you—without shoes, in a mask, anxious about flying in the middle of a pandemic—is a person, too. These days, there’s a lot that goes into trying to get from point A to point B in one piece.

Especially if you’re a mom trying to get her breast milk home to her baby. Like me.

By the time I’m in your security line turning over my breast pump, my cooler pack, and my frozen bags of breast milk (that are all exempt from the liquid limitation rule), I’ve had to do a number of inconvenient tasks.

I’ve made time to pump every three to four hours.

I’ve found private places to pump...often a public bathroom.

I’ve sanitized and disinfected surfaces (and myself) to make sure my milk is safe (and that I am too).

I’ve collected, labeled, and frozen every ounce of milk I’ve expressed while away from my baby.

I’ve called hotels ahead of time to make sure they have a freezer in the room.

I’ve read all the TSA guidelines on traveling with breast milk.

I know you have the right to ask to test my breast milk for explosives.

And I have the right to say no.

I know you then have the right to subject me to additional screening.

But this is what I want you to understand: The TSA guidelines are vague about what happens next.

Which means there’s room for interpretation about what “additional screening” entails. I understand you might decide to pat me down or want me to step aside to answer a few questions. Standard protocol.

But no matter what additional screening you decide is needed, you have a choice about how you treat me. You can see me—a fellow human being who’s just as anxious about the global pandemic as you are AND also a mom trying to feed her child—and respond with compassion and kindness.

A little validation and dignified treatment can go a long, long way. We want the same things, you and me: we want a safe and humane world for those we love. So let’s work together to achieve it—let’s see each other and help each other.

Sincerely,

A breastfeeding mom

Mamava designs solutions to empower breastfeeding and pumping parents on the go, like our freestanding lactation pods, Mamava’s lactation space locator app, and other helpful resources.

CTA blog