confused about a few things, need opinions

[melanie maritz]

About getting an orchie:  I have noticed people on here say that if your SRS is 5 years or more in the future, then you should get it. Mine is about that amount of time in the future so I don't know if I should do it, since that's a looong time for the skin
to shrink / atrophy and cause problems for SRS.

on the other hand it's also a long time to let the high amount of spiractin and estrogen possibly damage some of my organs. So I don't know.

the other thing is my hair:  since starting hormones it has gotten thinner and I had thick hair to start with. A user pointed out to me that it could be due to genetics.  my mom has thin hair and so does my one sister. does this mean my genetic code for hair might have been switched over to my mom's type of hair? That's so sad if it's true.

FFS: it's so expensive and because I seem to pass well enough to new people it should only be on my list after SRS is done. But I really feel like I need it to make myself feel better about what I see in
the mirror or in pictures. I believe it will make me feel a lot more confident, and who doesn't want to feel more confident.  The thing is I dunno if I will ever be able to afford it and that makes me quite sad. like everything surgery wise is so far in the future and we all wish we could get it now, heal now , start living as that dream we hold in our minds now. 

that last part seems more like a rant than a question lol, but anyway I would like opinions and stories of how you handled the above if you don't mind. thank you

[Auroramarianna]

Hey. 🙂 I don't know about orchies, but I have read that getting one could affect the depth of the vagina. Maybe you should talk to your doctor, ask them if it affects SRS in any way?

About FFS, omg, I so wish I could afford it too, it would make me so much more confident and I would definitely feel so much better. But I don't know. Portugal has socialized medicine, so that means trans peeps can get access to some cosmetic surgery which is covered by insurance. The tricky part is that you have to convince your doctors you need them. Otherwise, you will have to pay for it. But here there are women who got nose jobs. How does the health system where you live work?

xoxo

[melanie maritz]

I don't know how it affects the vagina really . And I will ask my endo if he knows next time I see him, but I don't completely believe everything he says because at our first meeting he said that if I was on estrogen for ling enough, my facial hair would go away completely.

I'm sure my endo would say that I would be much happier with FFS if it's an endo who is supposed to say that. but I don't know how our health system works in terms of trans issues.

I do however know that you can get SRS for free from our government if you are prepared to wait 20 to 25 years on a waiting list

[Eveline]

Melanie, as I understand it, shrinkage of the testicular skin can affect vaginal depth, since most procedures use that skin to create the vaginal tunnel. More shrinkage = less depth.

[Katie]

Never known ANYONE that was harmed by taking the normal dosages of hormones.

[mfox]

About getting an orchie:  I have noticed people on here say that if your SRS is 5 years or more in the future, then you should get it.

I wish I could remember where I read it, but I saw one guideline that suggested an orchiectomy after 2 years on T-suppressing HRT and to not wait much longer after that.  But I know girls 3+ years into HRT who haven't had theirs yet, and I've seen plenty of reports that say surgeons prefer to do SRS with everything in tact.  So I think it's safer to wait as long as possible.