So yesterday, I met up with my specialist (finally), and asked about the safety of hormones. For those that don't know, I was born with a bad liver, and I'm going to need a transplant... sometime. Anyway, I asked him, and what he said was pretty disconcerting. He'd told me that both pills and injections (of Estrogen and Progesterone, at least) have a high risk of giving me irreversable jaundice. I've already got something that's hard enough to reverse (my acne). I don't really want something else that might affect the way I transition. At the same time, I'm also not really pushing for bottom surgery. So I'm faced with an interesting dilemma. I can't transition the way I'd hoped to, and it's arguable that I can't transition at all. Unless there still is some sort of way? That's why I'm making this thread. Does anybody who knows more about transitioning know ways to transition without any surgery or HRT?
Uh. I'm doing it right now. I may never get on hormones even though I could have them in 3 weeks. I only really want feminization facial surgery. But if you mean surgery on the bottom...i could do without. Would I prefer it gone? Yes. But do I NEED it? No.
(*hug*) I mean I am sure you have been around the block enough to know that a non-op transition is just as valid as an operative one, that there isn't just one op... all the trans 101 stuff. You don't need anyone's permission to be you. So practical advice? First and foremost surround yourself with cool gay and trans friends that will treat you how you want A lot about transition - voice, your name, not policing yourself so much - it has nothing to do either with your body or your appearance. If you just need everyday people to not treat you like a boy sometimes, make-up. Yes I know you have acne, hypoallergenic and clean religiously. A dermatologist if you can afford one can give you some help. If you do decide on make-up, bronzer underneath foundation destroys facial hair visibility if you have shaved. More bronzer and a darker foundation on your cheeks below your cheekbone down to your neck gives your face a more feminine shape. Lighter foundation in your "T" area - upper lip, nose, and above the eyebrows - draws attention right where you want it. A little more foundation underneath each eye makes your eyes look bigger and more brought out to the front, which makes you look much more feminine. Eyebrow pencil on the outer edge of your eyelashes plus mascara gives your eyes an almond shape. Earrings, get your eyebrows threaded or waxed, you're golden. Oh and hair! BANGS. That is all. Trust me on this. Everything else talk to a stylist about. I get mine done cheap at the beauty school. Also clothes. Shaved legs or hose plus a dress is easy, you don't have to have any fashion sense or put any effort into matching. Otherwise wear clothes that look natural and experiment finding things that work together. I know "well that's real vague, what works together". I mean there really is no theory here, unfortunately. Just, some things, you'll wear them, and you'll go "wow I look kind of hot in this". Trial and error at Goodwill and a friend who you can trust to be honest go a long way. So medical options... I mean I know you said being against bottom surgery, but orchiectomy if your hormones themselves and the way you feel are bothering you is really cheap, it prevents you from ever in your life getting testicular cancer, it's a one day outpatient procedure, and it doesn't change your appearance at all. It JUST destroys your hormones... and of course your ability to have your own children. You can of course freeze your baby making cells. I didn't. My business is my baby. Maybe you have considered this option but if you haven't, and it sounds promising, I would talk to my doc about it. I don't want to be yet another person pushing you into something you don't want if you considered it and said no though so I'll leave it there. I wanna PSA a bit here and talk about what won't work. It is going to go through your head and the heads of other people reading this, so I'll lead off with herbals. Yes "they don't work" (except some do a little so some incentive to read) but when you're really desperate that isn't going to be a satisfying answer, so I'll explain what they do. So the sex hormones that are available to you via diet are plant hormones, - I promise this is the only $10 word I will use, the rest of this will be real plain, "if you can't explain it simply you don't know it" right? - phytoestrogens. Those aren't real estrogens. They're shaped kind of like estrogen, so that about 1/20th of the time - really let's make this thought experiment work, grab a 20 sider or imagine one - whenever you roll a critical success, that's a plant hormone working like estrogen in your body. Even if you have a box full of twenty siders and you dumped them on the floor, you aren't going to see a lot of 20s. And the worse news is, every one of the other 19 times, the plant hormone blocks the real deal estrogen your body is making from working. Animal estrogens, are both found in and made in fat. Your body will kick these out in the same proportions it always has, especially if you have a testosterone factory. You'll just be more fat. So. Plant estrogens don't work, and animal estrogens don't work. Through food, you simply can't make more estrogen than you do testosterone. What you can do somewhat well with plants is lower your testosterone. You can't do this a lot. But if you eat a little bit of licorice - I would go easy on this stuff, too much is bad for your heart - and drink 4 cups of mint tea a day, you can get as much as 1/3 the benefit a real anti-androgen would give you. That is not enough to feminize you, and simply taking more mint tea or licorice won't help. But it can take the edge off if you are feeling really hormonal. The advice I'm giving is equivalent to telling a cis girl to drink hot chocolate when she has PMS, for perspective. You know here, though, I mean you're "the derpy one" to me in my head and nothing but.
