Not on HRT / Not transitioning

[insideontheoutside]

Non-op is one thing, but is there anyone else out there who also is non-hrt ... that is, not taking any form of hormones?

Also, is there anyone else out there who is not transitioning but still considers themselves trans?

[Jamiep]

For me I can answer from two different perspectives as a non-op. Last January I started to explore partial hormone transition. I started  Spiro in mid April & taken off at the end of May due to blood samples showing high reading for my Kidneys. I will see and Endo in August, but at my age of 72 although I am healthy I don't think my body has the resistance to fight the battle of hormone chemicals in my body. I think I agree with my GP that I won't be going any further. I basically never got started, so not on hrt. I will just dress femme whenever I can as I have off and on throughout my life. Before this, in the last ten years with education & a primal scream, figuring the meaning I realized that my brain, spirit & soul is female, unfortunately in a male body. So I do consider myself trans.

Jamiep

[Antonia J]

42 years old and not on hrt. May start on them some day but exploring a social transition first.  I am not sure hrt is right for me and am going slow.  Honestly, I am just enjoying being out of the closet and enjoying this middle space on the gender variance spectrum.

[Andaya]

This was actually me a year or so ago. I just started hormones recently but on my journey I had considered myself partly female, partly male. A friend joked that I was 30% female and it kinda resonated with me. I'm not saying you'll change your mind and start to transition like I did but rest assured, there are people all over the gender spectrum with a huge array of plans to either transition or not. It's all about doing whatever you are comfortable with.

A trans friend recently leant me a book - Genderqueer - it explores the perspectives of a ton of different trans people all across the spectrum. If you're wanting to explore beyond the traditional male/female/mtf/ftm categories it's a great place to start.

[insideontheoutside]

Yes, I suppose genderqueer is a better "catch all" simply because of the non-transition thing.

[bingunginter]

I'm in the situation of screwed up if I take hormone, also screwed up if I don't. Its sucks.

[Just Kate]

I post and read in non-op threads but a more accurate description of me would be non-transitioning. And yes, I am very much a transwoman.

Those of us who choose to go this route need our own variation of support that often isn't covered by those who choose to transition.  So it is important we help each other out.

So to answer your question, yes, I am a non HRT non transitioning transwoman. What would you like to talk about?

[Nero]

I post and read in non-op threads but a more accurate description of me would be non-transitioning. And yes, I am very much a transwoman.

Those of us who choose to go this route need our own variation of support that often isn't covered by those who choose to transition.  So it is important we help each other out.

Yeah, I think there are a lot more non transitioning people out there than we know. It was the default state for transsexuals for thousands of years.

[Just Kate]

Yeah, I think there are a lot more non transitioning people out there than we know. It was the default state for transsexuals for thousands of years.

Yet we appear to be a minority on trans forums. It couldn't possibly be because there is so much pressure from other transitioners to just transition regardless of our circumstances or desires, nor because some people look at out desire to nottransition as a way to invalidate our feelings and experiences.

Mini rant aside I talk to non transitioners all the time. We have our own little nooks on the web, however I'd love it if Susans had an area to discuss issues we deal with and ways to cope so we can support each other.

[insideontheoutside]

I post and read in non-op threads but a more accurate description of me would be non-transitioning. And yes, I am very much a transwoman.

Those of us who choose to go this route need our own variation of support that often isn't covered by those who choose to transition.  So it is important we help each other out.

So to answer your question, yes, I am a non HRT non transitioning transwoman. What would you like to talk about?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one (I mean, I knew there were others out there, but it's really hard to find them!). I wholehearted believe that there should be some form of support network for non-transitioners. But everything is so heavily geared towards the transitioners, it's tough. You try to find "people like you", meaning other trans* people, but then it's quickly apparent that the majority of the time you end up having very little to talk about if you're on opposites paths. While I can relate to why someone wants/needs to transition, take hormones, want surgery, it's not what I'm doing.

I'm curious how other non-transitioners came to that personal conclusion. How do you deal with life in general? Do you express your true gender in other ways, dress however you like, that sort of thing.

For me, I somehow survived years of my life where I felt I couldn't live with myself, mostly because I had no options (and besides about 5 years where I got into drinking and occasional drug use to "escape reality", I've been of the mindset that I just wanted to be healthy and happy and I could try to look past the gender thing). I didn't know about transitioning early on. I can't say that if someone offered me hormone blockers when I was 13 I wouldn't have leaped at that, but honestly, who's making good decisions when they're that young? Who is to say that I wouldn't have just hated myself for other reasons if that's how my life had panned out?

Over the past 5 years I've done a lot of soul-searching so to speak on the gender front and more recently had come to the conclusion that as long as some close people in my life knew the truth and accepted me, as long as I can still dress or have my hair or general appearance how I want, then that might just be all I need. My life that doesn't have to do with my gender is pretty nice. And I've never really felt that I couldn't do something I wanted because of my gender. I still occasionally cringe when I get "ma'am'd" at the store or something like that but it's such a small part of my life.

I fully understand how everyone is on their own path and for many, transitioning is the only option to keep living and to get to a place where they are comfortable with their body. I feel like I've already had my "trial by fire" and I survived and came out the other side different because of it. I'm still working towards being totally comfortable with my body, but I'm closer now than I've ever been in my life.

I'm always willing to talk to others who have chosen this route. 

It was the default state for transsexuals for thousands of years.

Exactly what I've thought about many, many times.

[vegie271]

a whole nother' section for non-transitioning not just nonop? just because your concerns are so different or because most those of us who take HRT are so judgmental?

[Just Kate]

a whole nother' section for non-transitioning not just nonop? just because your concerns are so different or because most those of us who take HRT are so judgmental?

To me, non-transitioning means not going full time, with no intention to have SRS.

Non-ops incorporate lots of types that still intend to transition but choose not to have SRS. A non-transitioners support needs are different because we need to figure out appropriate coping methods and lifestyle changes to help us manage or dysphoria (both social and physical) without the benefits of a complete transition. Most who transition end up dealing with their dysphoria by transitioning mostly, but some of us are looking for another, potentially less drastic way to do it.

Insideontheoutside, I'll respond to you a bit later. . I need more time to write than I have currently.

[Nero]

a whole nother' section for non-transitioning not just nonop? just because your concerns are so different or because most those of us who take HRT are so judgmental?

To me, non-transitioning means not going full time, with no intention to have SRS.

Non-ops incorporate lots of types that still intend to transition but choose not to have SRS.

Yeah, for instance I could be considered non-op since I'm not having bottom surgery but otherwise I'm fully transitioned.

[vegie271]

yes see , lots of types of "non-transitioners" I was at first just thinking of people who were no HRT no full time no anything, just had to have the dysphoria and live with it, like the old days.

see for me I have everything BUT SRS. (which I would dearly love but cannot afford). puts me in a different class of non-transitioner. but one still.

so non-transitioners can be from self declaration who do no changes to themself all the way to those who have made almost all changes but have had to stop just quit short of the total change due to something preventing them either health or some external influence or  their own reason.    correct?

[Joanna Dark]

When someone says non-transitioner or not transitioning, I think not on HRT. Non-op to me means doesn't want surgery. Pre-op is anyone who has not had surgery yet or can not afford it but would have it if it were free. This is just what springs to my mind. Now of course whatever one decides to do doesn't make them anymore or less trans.

I must admit I am curious as to the reasons one would not go on HRT if they were otherwise healthy and would tolerate it well. Not questioning the decision, just curious. So don't kill the cat.

[Just Kate]

HRT is ok for non-transitioners.  In fact most non-transitioners I know are on some form of HRT to manage their dysphoria.

[Soren]

HRT is ok for non-transitioners.  In fact most non-transitioners I know are on some form of HRT to manage their dysphoria.

If they're on HRT, wouldn't that just make them non-op, not non-transitioning?

[Joanna Dark]

HRT is ok for non-transitioners.  In fact most non-transitioners I know are on some form of HRT to manage their dysphoria.

Yeah I don't understand how being on HRT and completley changing your appearance is not transitioning. By the very nature of HRT, you generally have to change your style of dress because even five months in most men's clothes will not fit me at all. I wore a small to begin with. If being on HRT is not transitioning then what is? SRS just seems like par for the course but at the end of the day it makes no difference in how you appear to the world-at-large.

[insideontheoutside]

Well, I would personally define it as medical transition vs, just not transitioning. Basically taking any steps at all in the way of: HRT (full dose, or long time period), surgeries, and living full time in any way, would be transitioning to me (or transitioned, in the case of those who did whatever parts they needed to and ended up where they needed to be, even if they're no longer taking HRT for example).

I think the type of support that people who have chosen not to transition is different. So much of the support is directly related to things such as: passing, how to get on hormones, changes once on hormones, questions on surgeries, how to go about planning for surgeries, etc. etc. If you say you're not going for any of that, people seem to just shrug their shoulders  and either say they can't understand it or have no input. 

Like I said, I understand it's not the majority, but I often wonder how many other non-transitioning trans people there are out there who are silently suffering, never seek out a site like this, or if they do, they don't really encounter any form of help specific to their situation. The whole reason why I came to this site in the first place was to try to find other people I can relate to. There's been a couple, and we've mostly discussed various thing via pm. There really isn't much open discussion of people who have chosen to not transition, yet are still trans.

[vegie271]

When someone says non-transitioner or not transitioning, I think not on HRT. Non-op to me means doesn't want surgery. Pre-op is anyone who has not had surgery yet or can not afford it but would have it if it were free. This is just what springs to my mind. Now of course whatever one decides to do doesn't make them anymore or less trans.

I must admit I am curious as to the reasons one would not go on HRT if they were otherwise healthy and would tolerate it well. Not questioning the decision, just curious. So don't kill the cat.

by this I am more pre-op than non-op , but it is sort of permanent since it is probably life long I don't see it ever changing unless the government really changes its rules

or a wad of money just falls from the sky - I have all but given up