Partial transition, breast growth, and "male" pattern baldness

[themself]

Hello friendos!

So this is my first post to this site. I apologize if I've missed anything, or if the answers I seek are somewhere that I neglected to check! I did some snooping but did not find the answers I needed.

I am a nonbinary femme AMAB person. Something that has been on my mind a lot recently is transition.

All of the information that I have found about MTF/MTN HRT focuses on the effects of "complete" transition (the results of years and years of the "maximum(?)" dosage of blockers and E, etc). Some of these effects sound absolutely perfect for me, while others, not so much.

Things that I would absolutely love to achieve through physical transition are:
-prevention of hair loss (which is common in the men of my family),
-smoother skin, and
-(some) body fat redistribution.

The former is more important to me than the latter two.

However, some things that do not sound appealing to me at all are:
-growth of breasts, and
-loss of libido (if considerable/extreme).

So basically I'm wondering what I can do to achieve the changes I want most, while minimizing the effects that are not appealing to me personally.

I'm wondering, can I only go on androgen blockers to prevent "male" pattern baldness? From what I have researched, testosterone somehow directly effects hair loss?
Or, if I must take estrogen along with blockers, would a partial/smaller dose of estrogen give me at least some of the skin + body fat effects, along with hair loss prevention, without making my chest too large or hampering my sex drive too much? I realize that the extent of these effects are very much determined by genes, but I'm wondering what some general tendencies are from people who have been on low doses of hormones.

For reference, I am 21, I have taken no hormones at this stage of my life, and I have a naturally fatty chest (something I've always been self conscious about). I'd say I'm actually an early Tanner Stage II. Also, the women in my family all generally have pretty average breasts. I couldn't tell you any specific sizes.

Thank you so much in advance for any help! I really feel kind of stuck.
Ommy

[Dena]

Welcome to Susan's Place. Most of the changes you desire could be obtained by reducing your testosterone levels but libido and erections vary from person to person. It's a package deal and other than low dose estrogen you don't have many options. Blockers will help prevent hair loss, improve you skin and sometimes will result in some fat redistribution. Estrogen is somewhat of a minor player but when used, breast are most likely the first thing you will notice and body reshaping will happen latter.

Long term, low dose estrogen may be needed for bone health but under some conditions you can get along without it. If you decide to start HRT, you need to expect major alterations to your body but you need to accept that very little may happen.

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[Seshatneferw]

For preventing hair loss, blocking dihydrotestosterone is the key; a general androgen blocker is not necessary. Finasteride is marketed for that reason (as well as for prostate problems, with a different dosage), and dutasteride (another, slightly stronger prostate drug) will work too. These should not affect bone density, since testosterone is still present, but some people have had other undesirable effects. Ask your doctor.

Keep in mind, though, that testosterone will leave the system two ways: either it changes into DHT or into oestrogen. In other words, a DHT blocker will as a side effect add a little oestrogen into the mix, without taking away the testosterone. Some small degree of feminisation is possible, including a little breast growth.

[themself]

Thank you, all! This was very helpful! 

[Marlee]

too late for me LOL..
but i can rock the wigs.
So far I'm just on low-dose estradiol. But i suspect that my E was low anyway..so I'll just have to see what happens. But if you attack hair loss now, there's a good chance you'll win.