Just out of curiosity...

[Question Mark]

Most FTMs I know greatly dislike menstruation and are glad to be rid of it, myself included.

I was wondering if MTFs ever wished they could menstruate.

[Sharon]

Well, that would mean I had been born female, so, yeah, that would be perfect. However, since I wasn't, it's something I don't miss at all.:happy:

[wannabie]

Hell yea!

menstruation is part of womanhood. not only that but during that time women secrete a hormone type phermone, that makes them more attractable to men; saying I’m fertile.

Besides, Its only a once a month thing so I'll deal.

[Helen in OK]

Menstruation, I would love that, because it would mean I could get pregnant. Yea, I'm one of those crazies.

Helen in OK

[CaptLex]

Besides, Its only a once a month thing so I'll deal.
Well, it's not quite that simple, actually. The "once a month" event can actually take up much more time monthly (directly or indirectly) than you may realize. Some women menstruate for as little as two or three days a month and have no other effects from it. That's the good news. At the other end of it are women that can menstruate for over a week, get severe headaches (migraines sometimes), suffer nausea and diarrhea, endure crippling cramps that leave them bedridden, or become anemic. This is besides the lovely water retention and wonderful mood swings. Also, some women are of the very unlucky variety that get most of these same symptoms twice a month because their bodies put them through the same thing when they ovulate (minus the bleeding, of course). Nope . . . I don't miss any of that at all. :nono:

[Felix]

A lot of women I talk to say they would stop the dreaded 'P' if they could and a lot of women say they would have there bits removed if there was not so much red tape involved. I personally agree that if women want to take control of their bodies then they should be able to. I don't miss having 'P' every month the old saying the dreaded curse is right. So very messy and a pain and costly. I think ya can get condoms free and ya should be able to get sanitary stuff free as well. I am on the side of the women also that want more control over their bodies. Sorry if I have offended anybody but that's just how I feel. xx Felix :hugs:

[janelle]

Yes, sign me up.
:hugs: ,Janelle

[Toyah]

I have to answer as a part time fun dresser that no that's not for me just as I am sure you would not like to feel the pain of being kicked in the male dangly bits.
I like to experience certain fem things but pregnancy and everything that goes with it nope not for me I don't even have paternal or maternal feelings towards children they just leave me cold.
I do however find this a fascinating question and will come back to it

[Priss]

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Some people like to say "oh you're so lucky" when it comes to things like this. They just don't realize that this cycle is part of what's missing from our lives.

So, if it were possible, then YES I would...:thumbsup:

[AllieSF]

I am with Toya on this one. No thanks.

[Deborah]

It's not like i'd be excited about it, but then it would mean i'm a GG so yes i'd deal with it.

[kerrianna]

Ooo, good question question mark. :heehee:

Yes and no.

Yes because it would first of all signify me as being female :happy: , and include me into a sisterhood. I also like how it is tied to a very deep earth/moon cycle - how it directly links women with the world.

But it does sound like a total b*tch most of the time! I'm sure I would get pretty resentful of it quickly.

I really can't answer this fairly as I've never...and never will....actually experienced it. I think if I knew it was a part of my life, hopefully I would learn to embrace it as a time when I am connected to a greater, sacred thing.

I think some of us MTFs here are envious of that. Sometimes it's harder for us to find that connection, even if we ourselves are mostly to blame for putting up roadblocks. But having a strong biological tie to the depths of life is something I yearn for. :love:

[Marcie Sexton]

Deal me in !!! I'd take that right of passage...

It couldn't be any worse that having your mom wake you for school in your early teens with a pup tent in the bed...At least with the "P" its hidden from public view...private & personal...:2c:

[Shellybean]

yes, if i could i would have a womb implanted so i could have kids. I want it all, pleasure and pain.
hugz
michelle

[Siobhan Marie]

I've got be honest and say that I have got no idea what do expect post re-birth either.

Kehleyr, thank you so much for sharing that with us all.

huge :hugs: and *cuddles*

Anna Marie x

[Lisa Baby]

I feel that haveing a period every month would be the crowning touch to a COMPLETE MTF transition. If we a person is not able to accept the "bad" with the "good" in our transformations, it would make me question that persons true feelings.

Since it is not possible with todays technology, we will have to do without that piece of the puzzle to our identities for the time being.

Takeing baby steps,
Lisa

[Diane CDN]

Most FTMs I know greatly dislike menstruation and are glad to be rid of it, myself included.

I was wondering if MTFs ever wished they could menstruate.



The Curse ?....Not this gal...I don't have the plumbing to start and have always been sympathetic/empathetic with my friends over the years that have to deal with it.

At best I will be a "Reasonable Facsimile" of a woman, the current medical technology is a band aid, now in the next life...I can only hope :)

Diane
>^..^<

[deniedtoo]

At the other end of it are women that can menstruate for over a week, get severe headaches (migraines sometimes), suffer nausea and diarrhea, endure crippling cramps that leave them bedridden, or become anemic.

I see what my wife goes thru, and it's pretty close to what the Cpt has described. Even if it was the "easy" end of the spectrum, for me personally, I think that that is one of those things that is best left for fantasy. A fantasy can be turned off, whenever you change your mind.

:2c:
Denied

[Vaerise]

I think menstruation is a part and parcel of womanhood. While I may not welcome the additional discomfort, I feel it is absolutely necessary for me to go through that to have a complete feminine experience. I guess my point is, I learn to accept and deal with it, if its part of who I am.

[CaptLex]

Again, I'm sorry for reacting so harshly to your post - it's more of a final straw type thing than the sole cause of this post. But maybe this isn't really a safe space for someone like me, and maybe I can't post here without being made to feel worse about myself...

:sad:
I understand why you feel this way and I can't blame you, frankly. But please don't go :Pray: - I've learned a lot from you (even though I'm going the other way) and I'm so grateful to post-transition people who don't immediately disappear into the woodwork. You're shedding some light on a path that's still dark for many of us.

[janedoe311]

Not sure why except would love to have a baby and do not like that think down there!

See my wife go through it so I know the problems. Since going on the supplements and vitamins regime I got her one she does not have any cramps or mode problems any more. So I am not worried about that part of woman hood.

Good question.

[Joanne f]

Yes i would love it

[pocoyo]

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it is comments like this that sometimes tempt me to simply stop posting here.

I'm post-op, I have a lesbian natal female as my life partner, and I'm completely "stealth" at work and school (and with the local lesbian social groups that interest me). IOW, I'm pretty thoroughly assimilated into living as a woman, and I'm very happy.

I come here in hopes of answering questions and providing support, because I think that if all of the post-ops just immediately fade into the woodwork it makes it harder for others earlier in the journey. I'm particularly here because I think that people are often too negative about transition and what you can hope for afterwards.

Still, I keep encountering posts where people declare that none of us will ever be a "real woman", or that they'll never be more than a "'Reasonable Facsimile' of a woman", or some variation thereof. In some cases, these posts are probably just a way to keep expectations lowered, and in some cases they are justifications for not having surgery. But they are also implicitly telling me that I'm not a "real woman", or that I'm just a "facsimile", and personally I find that hurtful.

I've posted before about how my body is now incredibly similar to that of a woman who has had a complete hysterectomy, or that of certain other women with particular birth defects. I've questioned before whether or not people here would tell a sterile woman, or a woman who had just had her ovaries surgically removed, that she was now just a "facsimile" of a "real woman". But I don't think I'm going to do that any more - it doesn't seem to do much good.

Again, I'm sorry for reacting so harshly to your post - it's more of a final straw type thing than the sole cause of this post. But maybe this isn't really a safe space for someone like me, and maybe I can't post here without being made to feel worse about myself...

:sad:

Yes I totally agree... you are 100&#37; real woman.

I get very upset too when I read posts
where people declare that none of us will ever be a "real woman", or that they'll never be more than a "'Reasonable Facsimile' of a woman", or some variation thereof about how they will never be a real woman... because that's absolutely not true in my opinion.
Of course if they now have the correct body to match their mind they are real women. Yeah there might be some differences with some ggs.... but even ggs have great variations in how they are... how their bodies function. (e.g. many can't have children etc).

I think we have been in a similar discussion on another thread once. I agreed with what you said then too about mtf ladies absolutely being true women.


------


re: getting periods.....

I can absolutely, completely understand why some/many mtf ladies would love to have periods. I really really get it. (btw never say never... science is moving along very fast. It is actually possible for non gg's to carry babies).


Just a little note for the slightly less informed though:
Sadly it isn't "once a month."

I am a boy who was accidentally born with a mainly female body, from my experience I can tell you that for some people it's really really horrible.

It makes me ill for basically 3 weeks of each month,
and can bring irrational anger and weird feelings and hard to cope with anxiety.
The irrational emotional bit can make you turn into a completely different person too. Sometimes totally wrecking relationships!
You KNOW you're being irrational and angry.. but its SO hard to control!
Some people even get depression.

And it brings with it fevers which make you feel rotten and sleeplessness. Bad nausea. And upset stomach. And feeling faint and dizzy.

Not to mention cravings for random calorific foods, when you're trying desperately to eat healthily and be slim. Also the water retention which is horrible :(
And not to mention the painful bruised aching of the chest.
And the thumping headaches.... you know when you have a high fever the headache you get? Well it's like that.

And the worst part...... the awful awful cramps and sickening pain.
Someone mentioned being kicked in the nuts... well this is like that... only the intensity lasts a long time and comes in many waves. Like contractions when a woman is giving birth. It's f*cked up. Sometimes it feels like you've been knifed or shot in the lower abdomen.

Then there's the actual disturbingness of the bleeding *shudders*.
Once at work some guy said "you look really ill" and I said "so would you if part of your internal organs were passing through your genitals" hehe.

It makes me look GREEN during it I get so pale & sick. :puke:

Obviously there's not so hard to cope with stuff like.. not being able to go swimming... and wearing pads. (I have always been to terrified to try the other type things! yuck!!!!!!)

Also it makes you get zits. Makes you feel all delicate.
Makes it much harder to deal with everyday stuff and stresses that usually you could take in your stride.
Some people get greasy hair too!

And that's just some of the nasty stuff that goes along with them lol!

I have total respect for everyone that would like to have periods.

This was just let the people that reckon it's simple to have periods... that it isn't!

Respec' du' to ggs and all other female bodied people who experience/have experienced periods!

.

[bi_weird]

Wow Poc, sounds like yours are even worse than mine. I thought it was bad that before birth control I'd often lose a half day or so stuck in bed 'cause I was in too much pain to move, but usually if I doped up on pain killers and caffeine I was good after that...that goodness for birth control.
But anyway that's not the point. I'd be curious to ask, of whatever GGs stumble by this thread, if they'd miss their peroids. I'm pretty apathetic about it: I don't loathe it like many other FTMs, but I wouldn't blink if it stopped now never to return. If you (the GGs) didn't have a peroid ever again, how would you feel? Would it be a relief not to have to deal with it, or would you feel like you had lost some very important part of yourself? (If you're not done having kids yet, pretend that magically you can still have kids)

And to Kehleyr: don't go! It's so rare to hear from someone in your place - it's great having you around. Sometimes people don't think about who they might be hurting with what they say. If the girls get you down you can always wander over to our side of the wall and we'll feed you brownies and rum.

[AmberTG]

Kehleyr makes a couple very important and valid points that I'd like to expand on briefly. If a woman has a mastectomy due to breast cancer, is she no longer a woman? If a woman has her reproductive organs removed for one of a number of reasons, is she no longer a woman? is that really what defines a woman, her sexual parts? If I grow real breasts and have genital reconstructive surgery, would I still be a man, could I still be a man? If the only thing that seperates me physically from most other women is the ability to reproduce, why would I still not be a woman? Many born women cannot reproduce, and many born women no longer have overies and fallopian tubes, and yet they are still women, are they not?
If the only criteria that you use to describe womanhood is the presence of 2 X chromosomes and no Y chromosome, that still doesn't work. There are quite a few intersexed people with 3 sex chromosomes, both Xs and a Y, there are also people born with a female body and an X and a Y chromosome. Then there are those who are born with parts of both sexes but incomplete of either. Some of these people choose to live as female. Does that birth defect make them not a "real" woman.
Hard questions to answer, depends on who you ask.
Being a woman, or being a man, for that matter, is about much more than just having all the right parts. If a MTF think the best they can ever be is a "facsimile" of a woman then that is all they will ever be, if your mind is not open to being a real woman, even without SRS, then you will never be one.
I'm sure the struggle to be a man is much the same, but I can't speak from experience because, even though I have a penis and have helped create 2 children, I have never been a man. I've tried to be a man but the best I could do was to be a facsimile of a man. I really have no idea what it feels like to be a man, I can act the part to a certain point, but past that point, I just don't get it. I've never been able to "hang out" with other men and be accepted as one of them, I'm just too different, and, as I said, I just don't get it. So as to what it takes to be a man, don't ask me, I don't know.
I'm guessing that some of the FTMs here are more man than I ever was or will ever be. You are what you think and feel you are.

[bi_weird]

I mean, who would want the negatives of having a period, if you can have the good part (having a fully functional body capable of bearing children) without it?
Hah yeah that's the point. I expect that most women are really into the idea of having children (there are a few that aren't, but most I've met are), but I'm curious as to people's opinions on their periods. You spend a lot of your life menstruating, and only a small portion of that having kids.

Well, I don't drink, and I try to only eat low-fat brownies (which are surprisingly good if made properly). But I'll be happy to come visit with y'all...
Well I'm working on some sugar free ones 'cause sugar=evil for me, and that cuts a lot of calories. I'll see if I can't cut some fat out of the next batch as well...

[Barb Valentine]

Is this some kind of joke who would want this to happen to them
Between my ex-wife who had it really bad and my wife and my GG friends
I don't know one of them look forward to this happening but it is a part of the cycle
And as far a Always brand of pads "Have a happy period"
Give me a break I've never heard such BS
And that's my :2c:

[Tamara Croft]

I've not read all the posts in here, but I wanted to add my 2p for what it's worth. Having a monthly doesn't maketh a woman. Some women never have them, some women can't have children, this doesn't make them less of a woman because of this.

But I also wanted to add what it's like for me. Every month, I have 2 weeks free of pain, bloating and then the actual period. 1st week, I suffer with migraines and not just 1 or 2 hours, I'm talking 24 hours, with sickness, dizziness... etc. Then the bloating starts, which makes me look like I'm about to give birth. Then the 4 days of bleeding, stomach cramps, leg pain, additional migraines. This goes on for 2 weeks and I can assure you, it isn't something you would 'like' to have. If I could click my fingers and make it go away, I sure would. Oh and I forgot, the flared up temper that comes with it.... for those 2 weeks, you so much as look at me and I could kill you.... That's not something I'd ever wish on anyone and it sure isn't part of being a 'real' woman. You make yourself what you are inside, not by something that comes once a month :(

Sorry if this was too graphical, but can you honestly say this is something you would like to have?

[Tamara Croft]

Why do male CDs who identify as men come into the transsexual sub-forums and post on topics to which they can't relate?Why do you call them 'males' when many of our CD's actually identify as female? I find that rather offensive. And since this section is open for all to post in, anyone is entitled to post here, not just TS's.

[Sharon]

Why do male CDs who identify as men come into the transsexual sub-forums and post on topics to which they can't relate?

Seriously? You're questioning who has the right to post in a section of the forum and who doesn't? Keep this up and I know one member who won't be able to post in any sections. :Angry3:

[Barb Valentine]

Barb, did you actually read this thread?

No I didn't read every post
But I did read enough to want to add my :2c:




Maybe you can answer a question for me?

Why do male CDs who identify as men come into the transsexual sub-forums and post on topics to which they can't relate?

If I not mistake the question was for MTF not transsexual only
And what I posted was just my opinion and thats all it was
Weather you agree with it or not

[kerrianna]

Kehleyr, I've been meaning to address what you said earlier about people saying that a fully transitioned woman would never actually know what it's like to be GG.

I believe I once said something similar, and if I caused offense to you I am sorry. What I was lamenting at that time in my post was that even with transitioning I would never know what it would have been like to GROW UP, from infancy, as a girl.

I am an infant when it comes to Gender Identity stuff, having been shut down and numb most of my life. I have no idea where it is I am at or where I'm going, but I do recognize that being a woman isn't about surface changes. It does come from within, and thus it's possible to be a non-op TS. But I respect and admire anyone who carries on with full transition, especially after reading about the sacrifices you are making to become who you really are. When I think about where my own path might lead, I can see that having the correct anatomy would give me so much joy and satisfaction. I just can't see myself ever going there...I would have to be in an incredible amount of pain being who and what I am now to drive me through the process. I am not wealthy, and I am a major wuss when it comes to medical procedures. And I am in a happy committed relationship which may or may not survive that kind of decision on my behalf. But I respect anyone who does carry on, and I am sorry if I may have been one of those who's comments were hurtful. It was unthinking and insensitive of me.

I've been thinking about this a lot the last couple of days while cleaning in an elementary school, where the pictures of the little girls, their drawings, their toys, their lives are staring me in the face and making me so sad that I never got to grow up as one of them. That's what I'd really want: to start again. :sad:

[GypsyKaren]

I think this thread has gone a bit overboard, it is now closed.

One point I'd like to make...this part of the forum is here for serious support of life changing matters. Some hard issues will be brought up that should be discussed in an adult manner without it turning into a sparring match, that's something I will not tolerate.

Karen