A California mom says she felt 'humiliated' after the TSA barred her from bringing ice packs on a plane to keep her breast milk cool during a 5-hour flight

• Three male TSA agents told Emily Calandrelli she couldn't take two ice packs on a flight, she said.
• Calandrelli needed an ice pack to keep her breast milk cool during a five-hour flight.

Emily Calandrelli, a California mother of a 10-week-old baby, said she felt humiliated and ashamed after she gave two male security agents at the Los Angeles International Airport a heads-up that she had two ice packs with her.

Calandrelli wanted to pump breast milk between going through airport security and boarding her five-hour flight. The ice packs would help keep the milk cold on her trip Monday from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, until she could store the milk in a hotel freezer.

But when she got to the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, two agents told her she couldn't bring them on the flight because one of them wasn't frozen solid, Calandrelli told Insider.

TSA permits "frozen liquid items" aboard an aircraft if they're "frozen solid" when going through the check, according to TSA screening guidelines. Gel ice packs are permitted on a plane in any form if they're "medically necessary."

A breastfeeding woman who skips pumping sessions is at risk for severe pain and infection. Breasts filled with milk harden and become engorged, which can result in a bacterial infection called mastitis. In some instances, mastitis cases lead to hospitalization and intravenous antibiotic treatment.

"I think we could argue that pumping and feeding our child and doing this even when our child is not with us is absolutely medically necessary," Calandrelli said.

When she had her first kid, Calandrelli, who frequently travels for her job as a TV-show host, used to run into the same problem. TSA agents would "give me trouble" about the ice packs in her luggage, she said. But they normally "would let it go" and let her on the plane, she added.

But on Monday, the TSA barred her from bringing ice packs on the aircraft, Calandrelli said in a Twitter thread. The two agents, both men, told her she wouldn't be able to bring them through, she said.

Calandrelli then asked to speak with a female TSA agent instead of the two men, hoping she'd be able to connect with a mother who'd breastfed before.

A male supervisor walked over to Calandrelli and told her to check her luggage and store the ice packs in it throughout the flight, she said. As other TSA agents and travelers looked on, Calandrelli and the supervisor argued, she added.

Calandrelli said the supervisor told her there wouldn't be an issue if she had the milk itself. Calandrelli usually pumps every four to five hours, she said. She said she tried to explain to him that she wanted to pump before her flight to avoid pain in her breasts while flying.

The supervisor then asked where the baby was, she said. The baby, Calandrelli said she told him, was at home. After a person gives birth, their breasts produce a continuous supply of milk, regardless of whether a baby is nearby.

"It was very clear that they just didn't understand how breastfeeding worked," Calandrelli said.

"I felt humiliated because I'm trying to explain to these grown men how my boobs work," she added. "And I'm like, 'This is your job. You guys should be trained to know this. I shouldn't have to want to ask for a female agent who might know how to do your job better. That shouldn't be the case.' And so I felt ashamed like I had — I had done something wrong."

A TSA spokesperson told Insider the agency took "all traveler concerns about our security checkpoint screening processes seriously and are committed to ensuring that every traveler is treated respectfully and courteously."

The TSA statement added: "We will look into all circumstances involving this situation and address it appropriately."

Calandrelli said she knew the risk of not pumping and feared getting on the plane without doing so. After the argument, she conceded, leaving the security checkpoint to return to the bag-check station at the terminal. She said she cried on her way back, hoping she wouldn't catch an infection.

"I'm trying to be a working mom and feed my kid and also not have an infection while I do it," she said.

On the plane, Calandrelli said she could feel her breasts hardening because she didn't pump ahead of her flight.

"It feels just like a lot of pressure and pain," she said. "I felt nauseous and sweaty, and it was just like, 'I need to empty these boobs out if there's going to be a problem.'"

She didn't feel comfortable pumping on the plane because it takes 30 minutes and she didn't want to be in the bathroom for that long, Calandrelli said. She added that pumping outside the airplane bathroom wasn't an option because her pump required an electrical outlet.

"It's so hard to pump milk, and that stuff is very precious," Calandrelli said.

Her experience is yet another incident in which a mom has run into difficulty at the airport over breastfeeding.

Shawn Johnson, an Olympic gymnast and gold medalist, said TSA agents "groped" her in October while she traveled through security with breast milk. A woman was told last year she couldn't take the breast milk that she'd spent days pumping for her 4- and 9-month-old sons onto a flight.

Since speaking out publicly on Twitter, Calandrelli told Insider she'd heard from other moms who had similar experiences at the airport.

"I think so many women have this experience, and it makes them not want to travel anymore," Calandrelli said. "Because I can see how this type of experience can lead to a feeling of trauma."