Hormones to Feminize - So Interested!

[Michelle PJ]

Hi Everyone,

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about visiting a transgender clinic and requesting feminizing hormones. If I did so, I wouldn't expect any dramatic physical body changes as I am getting up there in age (61). Should I pursue this, one trait I would LOVE would be wider hips and thighs. I am asking this community if there is much of a chance that could happen. Would someone be able to share any information such as "before/after" images, validated testimonials, medical studies, etc. where what I desire occurred? At least to an extent that it was noticeable?

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Michelle

[whowhatwhen]

After 8 months of HRT I have maybe an inch or two of extra hip padding.
It's definitely YMMV but extensive feminization isn't guaranteed, some get lucky and others end up needing plastic surgery.

[Nicole Erin]

in whowhatwhen's case, it might also be too many trips to the dessert bar.

I wouldn't expect much to change with hormones really.

[Jorja]

Before all the naysayers come along, let me say it depends on your body and how well it takes the hormones. There is also the element of genetics. Good genes = good response from HRT. At 61 do not expect big changes but one never knows until they try. If it is your intention to transition, Go for it! Surprises happen all the time.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

No chance.

Next question

[LeaP]

No chance?! What are you talking about? Why I went from 44-46 inch hips to 38 inch hips! I swear to God, Kaitlyn, it was the hormones and not those hundred pounds I lost. Erin's comment about dessert bars is specious. EVERYONE knows that hormones allow you to eat all the dessert you want without any figure penalty whatsoever when it comes to hips. Only good things happen to the good in life. Thighs, of course, are something else entirely.

Now where's that validated testimonial of mine? … The one I got from the Wizard Called (Dr.) Oz. Oh yes – he said it was in the mail. I will be sure to post it as soon as it arrives.

Michelle – you ought to do some reading through the back posts here ...

[Frances]

HRT is about having female hormonal chemistry. Whatever changes that occur are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Hips are extremely unlikely. A narrowing of the waist may give the appearance of more hips, but it's very slight. Thighs are more likely, but I have seen many older transitioners with chicken legs. Like Lea said, you should read older threads and posts on this forum.

[Persephone]

As others have posted, Michelle, there is no "standard" pattern that might result from hormones, particularly if someone is 40+ in age. It is not something to undertake lightely. Any photos, "validated testimonials, medical studies, etc." would not be of much help to you as the results can vary dramatically.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Aimee20]

Typically hard tissues are unaffected by hrt unless maybe one were to start before puberty. This is because once a body has matured it is no longer in the "modelling" phase of bone regeneration. The bones in our bodies are constantly rebuilding themselves but because we have pretty much all reached full maturity before cross-sex hormones are introduced to our systems our brains are no longer mapping out the structure for the bones to make, it's just taking away the old and replacing with new.

Much of what appears to be bone structure changes are actually soft tissue alterations. From my personal experience my shoe size has gone down 1.5 sizes, I use smaller gloves at work, and my shoulders are less broad. This is all attributed to reduction in muscle.

Now I'm not a doctor or even college educated so I could be way off in my thinking or explanation. I'll let you exercise your own google-fu for anything else.

[fran_c]

Hi Michelle PJ
i have always wondered the same.
if only today's info was available when we were teens (myself 60)
i feel for you

XX Fran

[LeaP]

OK, more seriously now.

No chance. Next quest...

Wait, that was Kaitlyn.

There is exactly no chance of one thing, and that's predicting what may happen with hormones. You may wind up with boobs ... or not. Bigger thighs, bigger gut, or not change at all. Your skeletal structure will not change. Some find the pattern of fat distribution changes over time, some not. And some to their liking ... and some not. Statistics are utterly meaningless when it comes to YOUR changes. You will get what you get, and hopes (for that's what they are) that you might tend toward some average are misplaced.

Don't screw with hormones.

[Frances]

It's really hard to differentiate legitimate questions from paraphilic postings. It's better to remain on the safe side, but I have seen everything on this forum.

[Michelle789]

Michelle,

Changes from hormones are YMMV. Emotional changes are the most guaranteed changes from hormones, but I have heard of people who didn't get much of a change, but usually you will feel changes. If hormones are right for you, you'll feel right being on female hormones. As for the physical changes, changes are very much YMMV. A few things will affect how much change, and how fast, the hormones do work on you

1. Your age - the younger you start the better result you get, and the older you start the less changes you'll get
2. Genetic lottery - you'll have no way of knowing how lucky you are in the genetic lottery until you've tried hormones, but I have heard people who started late who got great results and people who start young who don't get as good of results, due to genetic lottery
3. Your lifestyle - If you don't drink, don't smoke, eat right, exercise right, and manage your stress well, you'll get a better result than someone who drinks, smokes, eats poorly, lives a sedentary lifestyle, and doesn't manage their stress properly. This is the one area you do have control over.

Please remember that hormones are a slow process, that is measured in years rather than days, weeks, or months. Just like anything else in transition. Just because you're new in transition doesn't mean you can't live life. You are encouraged to, and even must live life. RLE is a requirement of transition.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

before after pictures? medical studies to verify what i desire?? should i go visit a transgender clinic and ask for hormones
Look at the other posts, corsets, makeovers...

Its always ok to post, but if the OP is serious somebody needs to tell her that the question is not serious

[writtenfarces]

I'm a long way away from taking hormones, but there are times I want them really badly. Of course I'll follow all medical protocols, but I at lest want to understand other's experiences. I'm curious about strength. Is there any effect, or its it another YMMV? Is it just a matter of having to work a bit harder?

Thank all you trail blazers!

Teri

[LeaP]

Its always ok to post, but if the OP is serious somebody needs to tell her that the question is not serious

Ya think?

[LeaP]

writtenfarces: You take hormones if you are female identified. Otherwise, leave them the hell alone. How is that for simple?

Work harder? I have no idea what that means.

Strength? You think this is like taking some sort of recreational drugs or something? It's not. You take hormones, you start to affect your body chemistry. In one of the most basic ways possible, in fact. Your mileage will vary with feminization *effects*. You will assume the same (increased) risks regardless. Let me translate that for you: you may achieve exactly nothing in the way of feminization but might still have a blood clot or stroke. Not terribly rewarding to those looking for boobs or hips, eh?

Trail blazers ... Seriously?

[noeleena]

Hi,

Hormones and others they are funny things in your body and some times they work and sometimes .....well they do so much damage that you wish youd never laid eyes on them ,

Trust me after 40 years being around meds iv seen what they can do and other wise do you wont a long list say 30 pages of meds that interact with your body dont think so,

And they can kill you slow death if your body is suspect towards cancer or other ....

so the best is see your GP have a natter with an Endo and have your blood tests some 17 of just to start with and do you have any health issues or taken drugs over your life and your age needs to be concidered as well .weight and your own body in how it may react with added synthic meds ,,

cancer and liver and other organs you have may have a bearing on issues for you .

What can you expect from them ,

Maybe some breast growth softing of face skin hair growth slowing down plus your age with that may help . you could depending on your body mass weight fat movement ???

As we are all different meds work differently for each person . and take a think about this look at 8 years for your body changes to take place ,...... yeap and dont expect to look like a lovely 16 year old young woman at the end of 5 to 8 years or longer or may be a bit less, .

Oh yes and some times meds need to be changed some work some do not .and some interact with others and dose rates are different for each person .

For my self my own hormones have changed my body in lovely small ways, some yea really quite neat as it is and over 20 years , my body is a little different and works differently.

...noeleena...

[Michelle PJ]

Hi Lea, I can appreciate your response advising me to do some searching on the forum about topics that might be well-worn. I will be doing so. Thanks for the feedback.

Michelle


before after pictures? medical studies to verify what i desire?? should i go visit a transgender clinic and ask for hormones
Look at the other posts, corsets, makeovers...

Its always ok to post, but if the OP is serious somebody needs to tell her that the question is not serious

Kaitlyn, While perhaps naive to many here, the questions I included in my post were sincere.

Michelle

[Kaitlyn Michele]

The sincere answer is at your age there is almost no chance that you are going to be taking hormones just to get hips. It would be a disservice to you to encourage you any more than that.

If you are dealing with gender issues (hopefully you are not) then get going with a good therapist and talk things through and learn more about the reality of all this.

If you are starry eyed about a woman's hips then i'd suggest padding which you know works very well...

i'm 52, the "hips" I gained from 6 yrs of hrt and srs is basically a couple pounds of globby fat hanging off the bottom of my A$$ ..

[whowhatwhen]

I got boobs.
Damn fine ones if I do say so myself (as someone whose only seen her own) but it's so incredibly ymmv that it's more akin to a charity lottery.
You put something in and if you get lucky then, hey! bonus!

[LeaP]

i'm 52, the "hips" I gained from 6 yrs of hrt and srs is basically a couple pounds of globby fat hanging off the bottom of my A$$ ..

And the awful truth comes out ...

[Inna]

Michelle, your question suggests that in fact you are inquisitive in regards to body feminization, however, that you may or may not be afflicted with Gender Dysphoria, which by western world standards is a necessary preexisting condition before HRT can be prescribed.
I believe you should be asking of how you go about obtaining a licensed and experienced TG therapist first.

[whowhatwhen]

Not to say that you're questions are invalid but I agree that the first real step is talking to someone who has experience with trans patients.
That being said I can totally see how the idea of feminizing the appearance of your body is an appealing thought when you're struggling with your identity.

[sandra-leigh]

I have seen a couple of people indicate that they got a bit shorter, consistent with the spinal compression that tend to happen on older women.

Physical strength is quite likely to be reduced. Testosterone is basically muscle fuel, so when you have less of it your muscles are quite likely to get weaker. I now have difficulty carrying bags of groceries that would not have bothered me before: even 4 litres of milk (one imperial gallon, 10 pounds) tires me. As I have gone through HRT, my major back stiffness areas have moved (lower down), which could plausibly reflect that some of the muscles that used to be super-tense were no longer able to maintain the tension, with a resulting dynamic readjustment. (These days, a lot of my muscles are quite tense, and I need regular RMT and physio, but it is difficult to say if that is due to HRT.)

[Michelle PJ]

Thanks so much to all that replied. For me, going on HRT wouldn't be solely to have hips. It's just that a rounded bottom and curves are so gorgeous that by posting initially I hoped I would hear about a success story. I have been to counseling with a gender therapist. She has agreed to provide a letter if necessary. With the informed consent process there apparently wouldn't be much difficulty getting a prescription. While I don't look much like a woman in the raw, I can dress to fairly effective results in presenting as woman. There would be much more to learn to acquire gesture, poise, voice of some kind, acceptance, to pull this off. However, I might just take the plunge.

Michelle

[Kaitlyn Michele]

sounds lovely!!

Make sure you post lots of before and after pics after you take the plunge.. cmon on in the water's fine...

I am sure you will easily be able to acquire the gestures and poise required to pull off being a woman!!!!

One good thing about having a soft, curvy, rounded bottom is that you can see it so clearly in the mirror when you take a selfie!!! It's just such a lovely feeling.

[whowhatwhen]

I'm quite sure every senior TS member here has in no way posted anything similar at the start of their journey.
:rolleyes:

OP:
As long as you're willing to follow the standards of care and are honest to yourself and your therapist then chances are you'll be fine.
It's not going to be snowflakes and meadows but on the other hand it isn't a soul-crushing terrible experience for everyone either.

[Angela Campbell]

While I don't look much like a woman in the raw, I can dress to fairly effective results in presenting as woman. There would be much more to learn to acquire gesture, poise, voice of some kind, acceptance, to pull this off. However, I might just take the plunge.

Michelle


Don't take the plunge if it is just for the looks. Do it if you need to, but don't think it is gonna be fun. or easy, or quick, or magical. If you think you need to be able to "pull this off" if you take the plunge then wait a while. talk to a therapist for a while.

[Megan G]

Thanks so much to all that replied. For me, going on HRT wouldn't be solely to have hips.

So I take it you intend on transitioning then?


Don't take the plunge if it is just for the looks. Do it if you need to, but don't think it is gonna be fun. or easy, or quick, or magical.

I have to echo Angela's post here! Transition and HRT is not to be taken lightly! Take some time and spend it with a qualified therapist to figure out if this is what you truly need! Does your wife know? Are you willing to risk everything in the process? Friends, family a comfortable retirement?

Those are the thoughts you need to be asking yourself right now, not if HRT will give you more hips..

[Frances]

You may just be a little clumsy at expressing yourself on the subject of transition and transexuality, or you may lack some knowledge about what is and is not possible, but every new post from you brings about more red flags for me. Please keep exploring this stuff with your therapist.

[KellyJameson]

I will never understand why someone "wants to be a woman" when I spent a large part of my life trying "not to be one"

To the OP you may have noticed some of the women were put off or offended by this thread.

There are a number of reasons for that. One is the huge amount of suffering endured from being a transsexual woman and all that this implies and entails.

You are always walking in deaths shadow. It is an extremely serious life and death matter.

Families are destroyed because of it. Lives are lost. Financially it can be devastating not just in the cost of transitioning but also because you are psychologically crippled to some degree until you transition, which impacts how well you can succeed in life.

I think in the TS section it is important to be sensitive to the "costs" that come with being born into these circumstances.

It is not a game or fantasy like you see in the CD section. It does not mean that body shape is not important because it is but the "reason it is important" must come out of the "suffering" or you simply are not "transsexual" because you are not suffering from a "unlived identity" that punishes you relentlessly from the moment you realize something has gone terribly wrong.

Transitioning is not a game or a fantasy but risking ones life to save it.

I would have given anything not to have been born into this mess.

In a way this thread is how I would imagine someone born very wealthy would converse to someone born impoverished.

It leaves me with the impression you do not know what it feels like to be poor as having experienced life long intense gender dysphoria and witnessed the incredible damage it has done to that life. Please be sensitive to those who have suffered and are suffering and they will welcome you.

We are a friendly bunch but we need our pain "respected" because when you don't you diminish us.

In answer to your OP, hormones will not give you what you want but cosmetic surgery will and it comes at a fraction of the risk that hormones come with.

Virtually no scars and almost immediate results if you have the money for it.

[sandra-leigh]

There would be much more to learn to acquire gesture, poise, voice of some kind, acceptance, to pull this off. However, I might just take the plunge.

Transitioning is, on the whole, best reserved for situations where living your life as female is more important than your appearance -- cases where living as an "not attractive woman" would be preferable to living as a man. Gestures, poise, voice, breasts, rounded bottom: those all make it easier for other people to "reflect back" a female gender to you. But that female gender has to be inside, and if it is then the items you list become more matters of strategy rather than ends.

I can't speak for everyone, but where you talk about being able "to pull this off" referring to adopting stereotypical female behaviours, I think many of us would say that Transition is more suitable for the time you start asking yourself whether you can continue "to pull this off" in reference to remaining apparently male. But perhaps things are different for those people who are presently in their late teens and early 20s with few entanglements and supportive families.

[Barbara Ella]

Sure we desire things. The feminization is the crap shoot of the whole deal. the mental peace from dysphoria relief is the big winner. No predictions, just a journey.

Barbara

[Carlene]

Thank you for your insight Kelly. In your traditional style, you bring clarity and compassion to the discussion.