What happens on your breast if you stop taking hormones?

[ddone]

Some one said breast growth I had eventually faded away after a year or so. Is this true?

[blueconstancy]

This is just logic rather than medical studies, but it would seem reasonable that if breasts disappeared routinely when estrogen dropped below female levels, no trans men would need full top surgery and cis men with gynecomastia wouldn't need reconstructive surgery either.

(Diminished somewhat, maybe, but the breast tissue doesn't disappear once it's been developed. I would bet that what happens is that the *fat* redistributes to male locations again, and "breasts" are actually a large percentage fat, so... plus boobs which are softer and flatter/more droopy will look smaller overall. If the actual breast tissue was still minimal, the chest probably would end up looking almost the way it did before.)

[sylvannus]

According to a booklet from an institute in Canada (http://www.vch.ca/transhealth), it seems that they will largely remain if only they are driven by estrogen.

"Breast growth from anti-androgens is usually minor and reversible, but in some cases the breast tissue has remained even after anti-androgens were stopped."
"Estrogen causes permanent nipple development and breast growth. Even if you stop taking estrogen, breast tissue will not go away and your nipples will not shrink."

Since the breast development is usually a combined result of anti-androgens and estrogen (and sometimes even progestogens), hopefully they will shrink a little but not fully.

But I have no way to validate this.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

I know of a couple of trans-women who after many years stopped HRT, one stopped some twenty years ago and the other [a close friend] stopped for around three years, not much happened in the breast department-they still have breasts...Mind you they are also 'big' women...

But I guess it would all depend on ones size [amount of normal body fat] and to what extent ones breasts have developed on HRT...

Metta Zenda

[ddone]

Kia Ora,

I know of a couple of trans-women who after many years stopped HRT, one stopped some twenty years ago and the other [a close friend] stopped for around three years, not much happened in the breast department-they still have breasts...Mind you they are also 'big' women...

But I guess it would all depend on ones size [amount of normal body fat] and to what extent ones breasts have developed on HRT...

Metta Zenda

What happened for these trans-women's testicles? People say Trans-women use HRT too long will lost the testicles. Is this true?

[Anatta]

What happened for these trans-women's testicles? People say Trans-women use HRT too long will lost the testicles. Is this true?

Kia Ora dd,

Both were 'post' op... However, for pre-ops there is some shrinkage in the testicle department the longer one is on HRT...I remember my endocrinologist report before my surgery, where it mentioned how mine had shrunk....

Metta Zenda

[kelly_aus]

What happened for these trans-women's testicles? People say Trans-women use HRT too long will lost the testicles. Is this true?

I still have mine, but I've had a large amount of atrophy and I'm fairly sure at this point they are non-functional.. That only took about 6 months to happen for me..

[Joelene9]

  A lot of cases the breasts don't go away.  Men my age have a high incidence of gynecomastia, I don't stand out here.  They are told to live with them if they cannot afford the reduction surgery.  There are more breast reduction surgeries done on males between 16-21 and those over 55 than in the past.  Google "gynecomastia" on YouTube and see the videos from the plastic surgeons.   I had to really work on it to get these little ones to grow.  I was flat chested with no hint of pecs more than two years ago. 

  Joelene