Is the old wives tale true?

[chromaggia]

Hello all, I've been on hrt for a year and have grown a cup boobs since then (yay!!)
I heard that trans woman are supposed to get 2 cups sized below the mother or something like that? I was just curious to see if it was true and anyone else's experiences with it?

[Angélique LaCava]

I'm a little over a year on hormones and my moms a full B cup. Mine are a full b cup. Looks like I'm going to be bigger than her,her mother,and my cousins.

[Dena]

It was once somewhat true as it happened to me. The reason was we were treated with Premarin and the estradiol content is next to nothing. Current treatment uses only estradiol as the estrogen hormone and I am seeing breast growth faster than before in addition to growth beyond what I had before. Premarin is far more expensive than estradiol and even given over 20 years, it didn't get the job done. Modern treatment will take you to whatever your genetic potential is.

[Paige]

It was once somewhat true as it happened to me. The reason was we were treated with Premarin and the estradiol content is next to nothing. Current treatment uses only estradiol as the estrogen hormone and I am seeing breast growth faster than before in addition to growth beyond what I had before. Premarin is far more expensive than estradiol and even given over 20 years, it didn't get the job done. Modern treatment will take you to whatever your genetic potential is.

Thanks Dena.  I always wondered why Premarin didn't work very well.
Paige

[Dena]

Copied from Wikipedia because I can't link the entry.

Premarin consists of conjugated equine estrogens (CEEs), or, more exactly, the sodium salts of the sulfate esters of equine estrogens.[2] The exact composition of Premarin is as follows: sodium estrone sulfate (49.3%), sodium equilin sulfate (22.4%), sodium 17α-dihydroequilin sulfate (13.8%), sodium 17α-estradiol sulfate (4.5%), sodium 8,9-dehydroestrone sulfate (3.5%), sodium equilenin sulfate (2.2%), sodium 17β-dihydroequilin sulfate (1.7%), sodium 17α-dihydroequilenin sulfate (1.2%), sodium 17β-estradiol sulfate (0.9%), sodium 17β-dihydroequilenin sulfate (0.5%), and sodium 8,9-dehydroestradiol sulfate (small amounts).[2][11] There are many different steroids in Premarin, even androgens and progestogens, but only the above-mentioned estrogens are present in sufficient amounts to produce clinically-relevant effects.[2]

The major estrogen in Premarin, sodium estrone sulfate, itself is inactive, and rather serves as a prodrug to estrone and, to a lesser extent, estradiol.[12][13] The transformation of estrone sulfate to estrone is catalyzed by estrone sulfatase.[1] Premarin and estrone have been found to be equivalent in potency in an animal model of estrogenic activity.[2]

The first pass issue is the body converts estradiol to estrone. Estrone is a relatively weak estrogen, at least a tenth as potent as estradiol. My body loves to hold estradiol as estrone and even at a half transition dosage of estradiol, my total estrogen level is over 700 pg/ml, estradiol is about 50 pg/ml so the bulk of my estrogen is stored as estrone. The total feminization with my current dosage would be about equivalent to a level of about 100 pg/ml of estradiol. In sort, estradiol is cheaper and far more effective than Premarin and I don't understand why any doctor would prescribe it today.

[Sydney_NYC]

....I heard that trans woman are supposed to get 2 cups sized below the mother or something like that? I was just curious to see if it was true and anyone else's experiences with it?

Generally it's somewhere between your mother and the women on you father's side of the family like cis woman and it you start HRT later in life, maybe a cup size smaller than that.

For me, my mother was very flat chested with hardly an A cup, but the women on my father's side of the family (his sisters) were all size D and larger. 3 years on HRT and I'm a B cup and I started progesterone well over 3 months ago and they are growing again and even more important my areolas are getting even larger.

[RobynD]

I don't think that is a hard and fast rule. I was told about one cup size smaller perhaps. I'm a D and my my mom was a DD, my sister is a bit larger than that but has fluctuated more. So it is sort of been true with me, but also the growth has been rapid, so not sure when i will be done.

[Jenna Marie]

The funny thing is, the myth used to be ONE cup size. In any case, it does not seem to be true, but there may be a grain of truth to it - bra sizes are a combination of band and cup size. So a 36D and a 38C are "sister sizes," meaning that the cup volume (=breast size) is the same, but increasing the band size decreases the listed cup size and vice versa. Since trans women tend to have slightly larger rib cages due to testosterone influencing skeletal development, their band sizes tend to be a little larger... and that might be enough to cause some trans women to end up at 38C and assume they're "a cup size smaller" than their 36D mother.

Personally, my mother is 34B and my sister is 36D. My sister and I both take after our short, curvy, busty paternal grandmother instead of the tall skinny small-breasted women on our mother's side, and I ended up 38DDD (which would be the equivalent cup volume as a 34H or a 36G, for direct comparison with my mom and sister, respectively). Genetics do control a lot, but it is clearly possible to be a throwback to some other woman in the family line.

[Michelle_P]

I doubt it's true.  After 7 months, I'm as big as my mom was.  If all this achy stuff is a clue, I will be getting a bit larger.


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[Dani]

Two cup sizes below your mother? Definitely not! Inherited genes come from both your mother and father. My mother was skinny and flat. My grandmother on my father's side was well endowed. After 2 years of sublingual estradiol, I now wear a 40 D bra, either Playtex 18 hour or Glamorize support bras.

[KayXo]

The first pass issue is the body converts estradiol to estrone. Estrone is a relatively weak estrogen, at least a tenth as potent as estradiol. My body loves to hold estradiol as estrone and even at a half transition dosage of estradiol, my total estrogen level is over 700 pg/ml, estradiol is about 50 pg/ml so the bulk of my estrogen is stored as estrone. The total feminization with my current dosage would be about equivalent to a level of about 100 pg/ml of estradiol. In sort, estradiol is cheaper and far more effective than Premarin and I don't understand why any doctor would prescribe it today.

Just to add...

Premarin is mostly estrone but also, in lesser amounts, equine (horse) estrogens that are difficult to eliminate and appear to increase the risk of clots. Equine estrogens are more potent than estradiol.

When one takes oral estradiol (even sublingually/bucally, some is swallowed), much of the estradiol is converted to estrone. I bet you that if you were on injections, the bigger part of your total estrogen would be estradiol. It's not you, it's how you take estrogen.

[KathyLauren]

The version I heard was one cup size smaller.  I doubt that any version is true.

As noted above, your genes come from both your mother and your father.  One's age at transition probably factors in there.  As does diet.

Bottom line: it is a crapshoot, just as it is for any cis-girl going through puberty.

[noleen111]

I also dont think its rule..

In my case.,.. My mother is 34D and I am a 36D, so technically I am bigger than her. So I cant lend clothes from her.. but at least we the same shoe size.. I have lent shoes from her before and she lent from me as well.

My family genetics, I come from a family of big breasted women from my mothers side, mostly DD's. My mother mentioned my grandmother was a 36DD. I actually inherrited most of my features from my mothers side of the family.. I have their figure type (a real hourglass effect), with bigger breasts. I always looked like my mother and with the feminine effect of  HRT, if you compare a photo of my mother (at my age) with one of me, we look very much alike.
My fathers side, all flat chested A or B cups.. so I got nothing from them.

[CynthiaAnn]

I am approaching 8 years of HRT, my 2nd puberty is probably over now. I realized a small B cup, which is just about the same as my Mom. I used to borrow her bras, I am built just like her, my Mom ran marathons and was very athletic...

Cynthia -

[AnneK]

It was once somewhat true as it happened to me. The reason was we were treated with Premarin and the estradiol content is next to nothing. Current treatment uses only estradiol as the estrogen hormone and I am seeing breast growth faster than before in addition to growth beyond what I had before. Premarin is far more expensive than estradiol and even given over 20 years, it didn't get the job done. Modern treatment will take you to whatever your genetic potential is.

Good to hear that.  I should be on estradiol soon.  I have an appointment with the endocrinologist on April 17th.  I'm looking forward to what I get.   

[KimOct]

I think age has a good deal to do with it both from what I have read and my own experience.  The earlier the better.