At what age did you hit puberty, and was it 'normal'?

[lady amarant]

This is kinda in response to a comment by Cindybc on the 'Suicide Posts' post:

Ya I was pretty lost after I reached the age of 25, late bloomer you know.

It occurred to me that I also had a very late puberty, only really starting to 'go male' at around 24 or 25. Up till that point I'd always been taken for a woman on the phone, shaved about once a week (which I only started doing past 20), and would probably have passed as a woman with little effort.

I'm a firm believer that GID is a form of intersex related to AIS (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome), especially after reading somewhere that index finger length tends to be midway between male and female ranges, along with a few other subtle indicators of sex that tend to be ambiguous in trans-people. I'm curious how common this kinda late puberty is amongst us. Also interesting would be a comparison with FtM folks, so post away.

If you have an intersex condition and don't mind sharing when and how your puberty occurred, it would be interesting for comparison purposes.

[Nero]

For me, puberty happened normally, at age 11. I do know that other ftms have experienced a late puberty (Dennis, our forum admin, I'm pretty sure) and it may say something about our condition that so many of us (not me though) experience a late puberty.
Anyway, it's a very interesting question, Lady Amarant.

[lady amarant]

Ha! Found it:

" A recent study in Germany has found a correlation between digit ratio and male to female transsexualism. Male to female transsexuals were found to have a higher digit ratio than control males, but one that was comparable to control females. (Transmen showed ratio comparable to biological females.) (Schneider, Pickel & Stalla 2006) " From the Wikipedia article on Digit Ratio...

The link to the full article - introduction free, but you have to pay for the rest...
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TBX-4H16P9S-1/2/ae91dff18b1b99385054e3bf971d47f9

There are other indicators as well, as I remember. Will keep looking.

[Tamara]

I hit puberty at at a normal age, I cannot remmember exactly but it was probably between 12-15. And I have developed some unwanted man things such as facial hair (That requires shaving everyday, but I have an appointment for laser hair removal soon), Body hair and other things but My body is fairly femminine aswell, I have the female index and ring finger thing. I have small hands and feet and I have a fairly wide pelvis.

[Berliegh]

This is kinda in response to a comment by Cindybc on the 'Suicide Posts' post:

Ya I was pretty lost after I reached the age of 25, late bloomer you know.

It occurred to me that I also had a very late puberty, only really starting to 'go male' at around 24 or 25. Up till that point I'd always been taken for a woman on the phone, shaved about once a week (which I only started doing past 20), and would probably have passed as a woman with little effort.

I'm a firm believer that GID is a form of intersex related to AIS (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome), especially after reading somewhere that index finger length tends to be midway between male and female ranges, along with a few other subtle indicators of sex that tend to be ambiguous in trans-people. I'm curious how common this kinda late puberty is amongst us. Also interesting would be a comparison with FtM folks, so post away.

If you have an intersex condition and don't mind sharing when and how your puberty occurred, it would be interesting for comparison purposes.

I too was a late arrival regarding puberty and would be taken as female visually and vocally throughout my teenage years/ and 20's......I missed the voice breaking and the body hair and it wasn't till I was about 30 that I started looking a bit more male.......but even then guys at work would make comparisons on how soft and light my skin was.

I think a lot of us have these things going on which would indicate something in the mix is slightly wrong and needs further investgation.

[fluffy jorgen]

um, me, about 10 (v. early, i know) and i've hated damn near every second of it.
well, who doesn't, but you get what i mean. having to go through something you don't think was supposed to happen, because it's not you, sucks.

oh and P.S. to the whole size thing, people who do think i'm a boy say i'm anorexic and need to gain weight. people who think i'm a girl also say i'm anorexic and the people who don't think anything don't say anything at all, obviously

[Dennis]

Nero's right. I didn't really start puberty until 16 or 17. I didn't stop growing until I was 25. First period at 17. So I had a very late puberty. Otherwise it was as normal as can be expected.

Dennis

[Natasha]

14. normal? ha ha ha.  it was the most horrible nightmare anyone can experience.

[Ender]

well, who doesn't, but you get what i mean. having to go through something you don't think was supposed to happen, because it's not you, sucks.

^^Hell yah.  I was pretty much in denial that puberty would happen to me (or at least the puberty that fit my bio body).  Up 'til it happened, I was convinced I would just develop like my dad.

Age?? The part that broke my self-protective bubble happened at 11; the very beginnings of development (pubic hair & a lumpy chest ) began sooner... about 9 or 10.  I'm pretty sure I was one of the first in my class to start.

I didn't let my mother know that I had experienced all that puberty had to offer until I was 17 and she was threatening (it felt like a threat at the time, but she really was only worried) to take me to a doctor.  For the six years prior to that I was doing my best to ignore what was happening & block it out (still am); I'm in college and adolescence still doesn't seem like it has happened to me yet.  Kinda unsettling..

[Dennis]

That's funny, Eryk. I did the same thing. Didn't tell anyone when it did start and my mother actually took me to a doctor without telling me why. I think she felt a bit silly when the doctor told me why I was there and I said "yes I have".

Dennis

[Schala]

I had first bits of puberty at 16. My voice dropped a bit (to what it is now, which is androgynous, it does pass...just not my ideal voice), I got major acne breaking out (which stayed until estrogen hormones affected me, at 24), and umm that was it.

I started getting facial hair at 20, and at 23 I was able to shave every 5-6 weeks, of course I shaved more often once I planned going full-time, but I was afraid of making it grow faster (and I was lazy and thought of it as a pain to shave, too).

Pubic hair I have no idea when it got here, but it seems rather normal. Female pattern (which is tanner 5 out of 6 pubic hair shape apparently, for a male). Never got axiliary hair (armpits) and I mean nothing.

Muscle growth: inexistant
Bone growth: nearly inexistant -> small wrists, hands, feet, shoulders, chest, neck, legs...but sadly, also hips. My shape is mostly that of a pre-pubertal girl in shape, the curves are more pronounced than a pre-pubertal boy, with a smaller waist.

Also a very high metabolism it seems, I have to actively seek to overeat to gain any weight (which means 4 to 5 meals a day). Which I am doing now, since I want breasts...I went from 108 to 113 lbs, and trying to go higher still. 120 lbs would be good.

Brother of 16 has nearly a full beard which he started to grow at 15, its definitely not vellus since it shows from afar (and he's blonde), his voice is also deeper. Which points to atypicality being mine (and not just a family genetic quirk).

Note that, while I thought I was small, I didn't think much of my physical difference unless it was pointed out to me, or that I read about averages and such (and figured how off I was based on those). I did pass as a girl sometimes, but mostly as androgynous, since very baggy t-shirts hid any shape I had (XL t-shirts while I could wear XS sized ones).

[lady amarant]

Also a very high metabolism it seems, I have to actively seek to overeat to gain any weight (which means 4 to 5 meals a day). Which I am doing now, since I want breasts...I went from 108 to 113 lbs, and trying to go higher still. 120 lbs would be good.

Hmmm. Eating that regularly actually speeds up your metabolism rather than slowing it. If you want to slow down your "inner fire", eat fewer meals during the day, and try to have longer periods of fasting inetween - for example, try to space supper and breakfast at least 12 hours apart (so if you BF at 7 in the morning, don't eat after 7 in the evening) and try to incorporate a one day fast into your week. I don't eat on Sundays. I find it gives my body a nice rest.

[Schala]

Also a very high metabolism it seems, I have to actively seek to overeat to gain any weight (which means 4 to 5 meals a day). Which I am doing now, since I want breasts...I went from 108 to 113 lbs, and trying to go higher still. 120 lbs would be good.

Hmmm. Eating that regularly actually speeds up your metabolism rather than slowing it. If you want to slow down your "inner fire", eat fewer meals during the day, and try to have longer periods of fasting inetween - for example, try to space supper and breakfast at least 12 hours apart (so if you BF at 7 in the morning, don't eat after 7 in the evening) and try to incorporate a one day fast into your week. I don't eat on Sundays. I find it gives my body a nice rest.

Unfortunately, thats what I used to do, didn't work That's what I do when I don't overeat, I eat 1 or 2 meals a day, and generally don't eat unless I really need to.

I really need to overdo it in calories if I want to gain weight. On normal days I can get 1000-1500 calories, overeating I can get 2500, while I still don't exercise or anything. (I walk often enough though).

[lady amarant]

Unfortunately, thats what I used to do, didn't work That's what I do when I don't overeat, I eat 1 or 2 meals a day, and generally don't eat unless I really need to.

I really need to overdo it in calories if I want to gain weight. On normal days I can get 1000-1500 calories, overeating I can get 2500, while I still don't exercise or anything. (I walk often enough though).

Sorry love ... I suppose everybody's body is different. I have the exact opposite problem from you. I rarely eat more than 1500 a day, yet my body still seems to find extra energy stores somewhere to pad around, well everywhere. Sucks.

I suppose no matter what kind of girl we are, the fashion magazines have corrupted us all. I wish I could just accept that my butt will always be slightly big-ish.

*queue dramatic angsty voice* Damn those perfect catwalk models. Damn them! *unqueue dramatic angsty voice*

[Schala]

Unfortunately, thats what I used to do, didn't work That's what I do when I don't overeat, I eat 1 or 2 meals a day, and generally don't eat unless I really need to.

I really need to overdo it in calories if I want to gain weight. On normal days I can get 1000-1500 calories, overeating I can get 2500, while I still don't exercise or anything. (I walk often enough though).

Sorry love ... I suppose everybody's body is different. I have the exact opposite problem from you. I rarely eat more than 1500 a day, yet my body still seems to find extra energy stores somewhere to pad around, well everywhere. Sucks.

I suppose no matter what kind of girl we are, the fashion magazines have corrupted us all. I wish I could just accept that my butt will always be slightly big-ish.

*queue dramatic angsty voice* Damn those perfect catwalk models. Damn them! *unqueue dramatic angsty voice*

I've never bought magazines really

I've never really been interested in 'high-fashion', its way above my means, a 300$ coat and a 400$ dress with that 200$ purse...

Though I found lolita fashion by chance, and the prices are similarly high...an outfit can cost anything from 200 to over 600$ easily. Still, its way above my financial means.

I don't have a car, or a driver's license, I walk often enough to wherever I go (and thats 15-30 mimnutes walk at a decent pace). I used to bike to work everyday, even in winter 15 minutes coming, and 15 min going...it sure burned calories, and my legs look shapely because of it I'm not so muscled there since I'm not doing training or anything (and since I can't seem to gain muscles even when straining myself anyway), but I look ok.

[Caitlin]

The first thing that went was my voice probably around 16, and it wasn't till after 20 that i had any facial hair growth, i'm 24 now and i still only have to shave every 4 days or so. I also had gynecomastia probably around the age of 15 or so

[tinkerbell]

Before I start this post, let me emphasize that I am NOT intersexed.

Having said that, I had a very unusual puberty.  I was always praying, hoping that body wouldn't change, and I guess that perhaps subconsciously I was delaying my puberty.  *Things* didn't develop as they would in other boys.  I didn't start having facial hair until I was almost seventeen.  Yeah, my wishes of wanting a smooth face didn't last long.  Puberty hit me with a vengeance as far as facial hair, but I didn't develop it anywhere else on my body.  My voice changed, my height stayed more or less the same (I'm 5'7''); however, as far as the size of other *things*, they remained almost unchanged.

I underwent two karyotypes tests; one before the age of fifteen, and another one right before my SRS, but they both came back XY.

As far as normalcy during puberty; of course it wasn't normal.  I was a girl who was physically developing into a boy, something I was not.  Needless to say, the whole experience was extremely traumatic for me, so much so that it caused me to do some very stupid things like trying to mutilate my genitals and ending my life.  But anyhow, those times are long gone, and now everything makes sense and feels right.

tink

[shanetastic]

my puberty was pretty failed I have to say as well. 

I did hit a big growth spurt, but my whole family is pretty tall, so I guess I had that coming.  I started developing facial hair right around when I was 18, and I still don't shave that often.  My voice deepened pretty fast oddly enough though, like in 8th gradish or something, I think that's somewhat early. . . lol

Needless to say, I never developed like dark leg/arm hair and stuff and my feet are still somewhat rather small for being a ~6'ish tall person.  As for muscle growth, inexistent as well, was normally made fun of for being the "stick" of the class and crap like that.  You know, the cool awesome joke was on those windy days watch out and don't blow away 

Anyways at least it's all over with and I'll never see those people again.

[Schala]

I underwent two karyotypes tests; one before the age of fifteen, and another one right before my SRS, but they both came back XY.

Well, the preciseness of karyotypes, especially small sample blood ones, is doubtful. It only confirms that those cells exist. They can't really confirm or disprove mosaicism with a relatively high success ratio. The most precise is FISH (Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization).

I guess if for you it doesn't change anything, that's all good, too. In itself it doesn't have much repercussions.

[Luc]

INSANELY early. My mom took me to the doctor when I was 8 because I was having terrible pains in my chest... turned out it was what the doc called "breast buds," and it only got worse from there. I have fibrous breasts, which means they hurt pretty much all the time, and that was the beginning of that. First period at 10. I wish I could have hidden it from my mother, but I was so terrified of it, she was about the only one I had to talk to. Now, at 25, I get to experience second puberty. It, as well, is going at an incredibly rapid rate. I haven't had a period since before I started testosterone, have a full mustache and goatee now at 7 weeks, and my voice is a wonderful tenor and still dropping. I just wish I could go back and erase that first puberty. It sure f'ed up my childhood.

S.D.