Susan's Place Transgender Resources

ok this question may seem i little weird and im kinda embarrassed to ask.

if you are a FTM and you start taking testosterone, does that harm your eggs?

the reason im asking is bec me and my boyfriend were talking about our child birth options for the future and we were thinking about using some of his eggs to get me pregnant, so he would feel more connected to the baby and quite honesty to avoid some of my genetic history.

i feel kinda stupid for asking this question, i feel like i should already know the answer. i dont know i was just wondering if anyone knew. or even if you dont know what you thought about the situation.   

Yes, taking testosterone will have a harmful effect on his ovaries and eggs.

If he is seriously planning to take cross hormone therapy, plan ahead and have his eggs harvested before he starts.  He will be rendered permanently sterile in just a few weeks.

Have him talk with his physician/endocrinologist prior to starting.

The only stupid questions are the ones that you don't ask.  That's why we're here!  We support each other and we help each other.

-Sandy

thanks sandy that helped a lot!

No no sandy that's wrong. He won't be permanently sterile from hrt alone. Lots of guys get pregnant after sometimes just months after stopping T. Testosterone certainly isn't good for ovaries but it doesn't delete them.

Quote from: Felix on November 02, 2012, 05:16:38 AM
No no sandy that's wrong. He won't be permanently sterile from hrt alone. Lots of guys get pregnant after sometimes just months after stopping T. Testosterone certainly isn't good for ovaries but it doesn't delete them.

I stand corrected, Felix.  Just quoting some of the information I gleaned from other sites.  Not having personal experience on the subject.  I went the other way in my transition.   ;)

Thanks for the update!

-Sandy

There's also a difference between the ovaries, ovulation/menstrual cycle, and eggs - testosterone will most likely discontinue ovulation and the menstrual cycle (from all reports) and maybe discourage the ovaries from continuing to make high levels of estrogen, but the eggs could still be perfectly intact. On the other hand, people with ovaries are born with all the eggs they'll ever have, so it's not like sperm; once a significant enough percentage of eggs are damaged, there's no way to recover them.

One warning : harvesting his eggs will require taking very high levels of *female* fertility hormones to promote super-ovulation. To the point that cis women report that it's uncomfortable/unpleasant to be on this sort of extreme hormonal regimen. I dunno how he'd feel about it... http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infertility/DS00310/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infertility/DS00310/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs)

A quick poke on Google finds a number of sources like this one : http://haveababy.com/fertility-information/ivf-authority/egg-quality-and-ovarian-reserve-effect/ (http://haveababy.com/fertility-information/ivf-authority/egg-quality-and-ovarian-reserve-effect/) suggesting that it's testosterone that is partly responsible for the decline in egg quality as a cis woman ages. Presumably, then, male levels of T *would* endanger egg quality. Honestly, if you're seriously considering it, the thing to do might be to call whichever fertility clinic you had in mind to use (because you presumably aren't planning to harvest his eggs yourselves, as that process also isn't as easy to do in a personal bathroom as sperm donation!), and ask how they think T affects egg quality? It sounds like a question that actually comes up with cis women and therefore one they might have a policy/theory on.

Ok thanks for more info. I will call and see what they say.