Will I not pass if I wait until I am 18 for HRT?

[Lizabelle]

I have been anticipating transition so much. Since I no for sure I can't come out to my highly transphobic family, I have to wait until I move out to start. Is 18 too late to recieve good effects of hormones? Thanks for any replies.

[AlyssaJ]

Well considering I'm 40 and just started HRT earlier this year, I hope not.     Seriously, age is only one factor affecting transition and even that varies from person to person.  As I look back on it, yeah I wish I had transitioned sooner, but many of the effects of testosterone poisoning that are making my transition a little more challenging now didn't occur until I was in my mid-20's to mid-30's.  There are other things you could start doing in the mean time to minimize any of that potential damage.  Start taking really good care of your skin (moisturizing, sunscreen all the time, etc).  Don't to heavy strength training, instead focus on lighter weights with higher reps that don't promote as much "bulking". You can also work on keeping your vocal range higher.  Take good care of your hair.  Etc.  Start with those elements and then when you're ready to seek HRT you'll already have a good starting point.

[Rachel_Christina]

It is far from too late girl.
But I would highly recommend atleast trying to talk with your parents, you never know till you try.
Mine where a disaster in the beginning but are slowly coming round

[Amoré]

Not at all too late... I am 28 when I started hrt and I am a pass. People don't clock me at all. It depends on your features also but the younger the better I would give an arm and a leg to have started hrt at the age of 18. You will do great.

[stephaniec]

I transitioned at 63 and I think I do all right

[KathyLauren]

I am 62 and I pass well enough not to attract attention.  Once I open my mouth, it's a different story, but I'm working on it! 

[MissKairi]

Anyone can pass at any age

Try not to think of ridiculously attractive female celebs (who mostly look normal without heavy makeup)
and instead think of how girls your age look without makeup.
Then add makeup.
You'll be basically the same.

Well actually I am being unfair as I don't know if you are MtF or FtM.
Either way the answer is yes.

I have a huge head, am six foot and a square jaw yet my friends say I make a cute girl.

So if I can, you can

[CarlyMcx]

I started transitioning at 53.  That is me in a bikini in my profile photo.  I have no problems with passability after a year on hormones.  FWIW I know several people who started at 18 and had amazing results from HRT.  YMMV, but do not let worries about passibility stop you from transitioning.

[Julia1996]

18 is still a good age if you can't do it sooner. I started at 17 and I pass.

[elkie-t]

I have been anticipating transition so much. Since I no for sure I can't come out to my highly transphobic family, I have to wait until I move out to start. Is 18 too late to recieve good effects of hormones? Thanks for any replies.

Well, honey. First, you'll wait until you move out. Then, until you finish college. After that... There is always one reason or another. Would you want to live your life in wrong gender next 20 or 40 years? I'm not criticizing, just saying that it's not easy to do at 17, but it's way more difficult to do at 18 or 20 (when you need to earn your living), or even later. And if any wives/children is involved, then it's even harder... (don't ever have sex, it won't cure anything).

Speaking of effects - your body is continuing to grow until 25. Your voice is probably broken already. Your facial hair is still maturing. So, bones cannot be reshaped, the rest can be trained but it will cost you money and effort to fix. And if you intervene early enough - you'd save yourself a lot of time later.

But most important, if you do come out to your parents now, and for the sake of argument they won't understand you, then at least it won't come out of the blue for them, why you start transition, or stopped talking to them. And you will know whether you have parents, or must be prepared to survive on your own.

[Sophia Sage]

You might also want to look into gnrh analogues -- the "puberty blocking" drugs.  They won't help you feminize, but they can shut down the process of masculinization.  (In the meantime, don't lift weights!)

If worst comes to worst... you might want to look into legally emancipating yourself so you can start your journey as soon as possible.

[Tammy Jade]

It's not to late at all, I'm yet to start hormones and I'm 30, with good makeup and decent hair styling I seem to be passing most of the time already. It's never to late.


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[Dani]

Age 18 is just perfect. Sometimes early age starting of any HRT may cause complications.

Anyone watching "I Am Jazz" on The Learning Channel? She started T blockers at a very early age and did not go through teenage puberty. Now she has a very small penis and one surgeon said that he could not do penile inversion and another said yes. I am interested to see if the next episode can give viewers a more definite appraisal of her situation.

At 18 years of age you will not get too much of a masculine appearance. Your personal and financial security is really more important. Too many of us have been thrown out of our parents home and had to live on the streets.

[Natalia]

Age matters a bit, but not that much on a young age. You are really young and you shoudn't worry about that 

I started hormones when I was 26. Today I am 30 and I pass...

Sure, the longer you stay on T, the longer T will keep your body working on a male pattern (muscle mass, fat deposits on male patterns, beard, baldness). When you are young, those changes are still a bit recent and are easier to revert after starting E... what means... when you are young as yourself, it's easier and faster to achieve a good feminization after starting HRT.

But, as you can see, even people with older ages can achieve a good feminization. The changes will usually take longer, but most of the times the results will be about the same (it all depends on your genetics).

[rose]

I start when I was 18 I really got good result and I pass as woman
My sister start when she was 14 or 15 she pass as woman too
I will say the main difference is she got her result with less hormone doses and more faster than me
The other difference is purely genetic
She look like my mother and short like her
and I look like my aunt and tall like her


I always was in the feminine side comparing to the boys in my age so when I start in 18 it enhanced my femininity 

But yeah with hrt the sooner you start the better but 18 is perfectly fine

[Jacqueline]

Lizabelle,

So sorry we missed you before.

Welcome to the site.

Glad you joined and are asking questions.

Everyone's reaction to hormones is different. No one can really predict. However, Most of the instances I am aware of with people starting around 18 have been great. If you could get prescribed T blockers so much the better. The great thing about T blockers is that they are not permanent. If you could convince your family to see a gender therapist then maybe start blockers, it holds puberty at bay. Like others have said, it won't reverse things you have already experienced: voice change; facial hair, bone structure. If you all of a sudden decided you were wrong, you could stop taking it and puberty would pick up where it left off.

I guess I would really push for trying to see a therapist. Would your parents be down for that to start? Then you could see about starting blockers. After 18, you could potentially start estrogen .

I wish you luck and keep asking questions.

I also want to share some links with you. They are mostly welcome information and the rules that govern the site. If you have not had a chance to look through them, please take a moment:

Things that you should read

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By	Standard Terms & Definitions	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
Reputation rules	News posting & quoting guidelines	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Jacqui

[Aurorasky]

Hi Lizabelle

It's really difficult when your family is that unsupportive. Mine was too. Be ready for difficult times, times where your folks will be pushing for you to live as a man and likely may try to sabotage your transition. My family was this way, but in the end they accepted and now I'm having SRS, due to their help. Do not lose hope! If they are open to dialogue, you may want try to talk about your feelings but it doesn't sound like this is your situation. You will have to prove them that you're capable of doing this alone, this is way the only my family accept. It may or may not work, but you'll never know if you don't try.

As for age, 18 is an awesome age, assuming that masculinization hasn't taken its toll. I started HRT at 18 and pass perfectly now. There's no situations in my daily life where I'm taken as anything other than a young woman. But presenting as a woman can be expensive. You will need to save. I don't know what point you are in education. If you can, do enrol in college or delay it 1 year max and get a job. Save, save, SAVE. If beard is a problem, wasn't for me but it depends, get that removed ASAP, with either electrolysis or laser hair removal.  You will need money for clothes, HRT, hair, consultations, blood work, etc. I funded my transition by working in call centers and a child group home. You will have to be strong. It's likely you'll go through the early stages alone because of your family's unsupportiveness. I certainly did. Hope that's not the case for you but be ready for the possibility.

All the best,

[SerenaOhSerena]

I'm 24 and today marks 2 months on HRT and I pass pretty well.

[Lizabelle]

Thanks everyone for replying! It really helped me deal with some dysphoria I have been having lately. (Btw I am mtf)

[Barb99]

I don't think you can be to old, but I sure do wish I had started at 18! Anyway... started at 59 and am doing just fine at 61. Do try to talk to your parents, you never know. When it hits close to home they may give it some more serious thought.