Breast Feeding an Adopted Child

Q. Asalaam-alaikum,

I have a question regarding breast feeding a child for adoption. I’m aware that a child under the age of 2 should be breast-fed by the adoptive mother in order to establish familial ties between her, her family and the baby.

My questions are as follows:

1. Does the child literally need to be breast fed, or is it sufficient that the breast milk of the adoptive mother be fed to the child through a bottle? Many times children do not latch on to breast if they are not used to it.