Ezzo said surveys -- so far unpublished -- show 88 percent of mothers on his program initiate breastfeeding and 70 percent still doing so after four months.

MORE ABOUT THE COURSE

Gary Ezzo isn't a physician. He isn't a child psychologist or even the father of many children.

Graduating in 1985 with a master's degree in ministry from Talbot Theological Seminary in California, the father of two grown daughters, along with his wife, Anne Marie led a parenting class in 1984 from their living room, a ministry official said.

Promotional materials say Anne Marie Ezzo is a registered nurse with a background in pediatric nursing. Gary Ezzo would not answer a written question requesting clarification on when and where she gained experience or where her educational qualifications were from.

At the time the classes began, Gary Ezzo was an associate pastor at the approximate 5,000-member Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he taught parents his principles in child-rearing.

The next year, 180 took the course. Then 400. By 1987-88 it was 600. The GFI ministry was founded in 1986.