Before transitioning, I'm guessing you may have had a mental image of what you expected or thought you might look like after transitioning. Did your prediction come true? Do you look like you expected? Is it a better or worse result?
For those of you who haven't transitioned yet and are planning to, what do you expect? What is your prediction for how you will look during and after transition?
I look pretty much as I expected. But I had low expectations going into it anyway.
Yes, I will make one ugly old woman, but that's me and I am happy with that because it has brought me to an inner piece I have never known in my life. Pat
Quote from: justpat on January 29, 2014, 11:11:04 PM
Yes, I will make one ugly old woman, but that's me and I am happy with that because it has brought me to an inner piece I have never known in my life. Pat
Well, I'm not ugly, but I seem to pass okay out in public. That's good enough for me.
I spent so many decades training my brain to NOT think about it, so now that I am willing to think about it, my brain wont comply :(
However, I did turn to photoshop and created an artist rendering of "in my wildest dreams will I look like this one day"
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-BhWsmxHRnEk%2FUqLZ9lZVRaI%2FAAAAAAAAAAg%2FG7KcXRMzt1E%2Fs1600%2Fdreams2c.png&hash=99b7763db26782d63d81b5f3cb1d4be48a79f792)
Hopefully I can at least come close.
Currently on a good day I look like this:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Ehyu0EQcMhM%2FUtePLdb3j1I%2FAAAAAAAAAD8%2Ft20GYQ21TkM%2Fs1600%2Fphoto%286%29.jpg&hash=aec052ec5ab33dfa024cd122d6646627e9bda332)
I'm going to be honest, I had no idea what I was going to look like. All I had going in was hope. I'd seen some truly amazing transformations through Youtube videos, and I just had blind faith that somehow it would work out.
It was hard to hold on to that hope, since I was so big and had so many masculine body features to start out with. My roommate even told me, before I had taken a single hormone, "If you want my honest opinion, I think you'd make an ugly woman."
It took around 4 months on hormones before I started seeing her... that beautiful female self that was slowly emerging. And I saw how it was going to work. And that feeling was unlike anything else in the world... it was like meeting myself anew for the first time... just this feeling of sheer and utter completeness, as for the first time in my life I saw what truly appeared to be a female version of myself. And she was more than I could ever have hoped for. It was surreal, having a picture of me that I was actually happy with. For almost a month straight, I was putting on that wig almost every single day, just so that I could get a glimpse of her. And at that moment, I realized, I don't have an idealized version of a female self that I want to live up to... all I want is to be able to see her in the mirror every single day.
Unfortunately, I'm not there yet. My true female self, the one that doesn't require that "Vintage Vixen" wig in order to look that way, is still engaged in the long arduous process of emerging. But I'm slowly seeing her emerge more and more with every single day.
Hi Chic,
Interesting question. But to answer it; No. I've always been at peace as to my looks. It's what I was born with and what I've grown to love. It's been very unimportant. It's what grew from the inside that radiated outwardly that concerned me the most. I'm happy with how that's transpired. My avatar is me. Nothing more, nothing less. Except for the lack of makeup ;D
Hope you are satisfied with what you are blessed with
Huggs
Catherine
I look about like I would have hoped. Maybe slightly broader shoulders and smaller boobs than I would have dreamed for, but honestly it's fine :). Mostly, I match the image I have of myself in my head, except when I have that dysmorphia thing going on, which happens and is annoying.
I'm in agreement with others, great question :).
Before starting transition, I had no idea what i might end up looking like. In fact for a time I grew overly anxious about that, even trying my novice hand at modifying photos, but I could never create a girl out of them. Partially because I didn't know what gender markers there were, and I was terrible at any photo editing. So, when starting transition, I didn't care what I would look like, so long as I pass for female.
And now that I'm living the right life, it's odd... while I don't look too dissimilar to my former self, but I just don't see 'him' any more. More importantly, I seem to pass for female without worry. And I'll never win any sort of beauty contest, but that's OK. I don't need that to be the proud and assertive woman I am. :)
Well, I'll be honest, I have yet to even start hormones but would LOVE to start on E and maybe a few others like blockers this year and if I can do it, you better believe I will with no hesitation! So, as to my appearance, well, for all my life I didn't like what I saw in the mirror for various reasons. Then, I started accepting myself for all that I am and also not putting as much emphasis on stuff such as "oh this hair on my body is a male trait" since I realized that even woman could get hair all over their bodies, and MUCH more. It really just comes down to hormones and genetics and after accepting myself, not to mention growing my hair long and also knowing I already look like a woman, it made me very happy. So, what do I envision/hope for? Honestly I hope to be one of the hot and sexy woman we see out there. The ones that are just so beautiful and attractive, but, reality is that I don't know if that will ever happen, I can hope though but, for what I'm expecting to be more of the out come, I don't think my expectations are too farfetched but the hot and sex more than likely is out of my reach. lol
Hi all I am hoping for with transition is that I like the person I see in the Mirror .I will never be pretty But the Lady I see in the Mirror when i am Dressed is a hell of a lot better than the person I see when I am in drab.I come to life and feel so happy and at ease with Myself when dressed .I dont even need to wear makeup to feel better in myself .
Love Anita B
I really didn't have any expectations. I just needed to do something regardless of how it turned out. I'm ok with the results for the most part, but there are some disappointments, but I deal with it and go on.
Im having a clear image on my mind about myself,,,she doesnt look that different from what I look now so maybe with a bit more of hormone magic and maybe a bit of ffs I ll be fine...
Im only one month on hrt,,,Im impatient as a person and this makes things difficult,,,but I wont give up I ll go through all this journey with hope.
I'm pleasantly surprised by what's happen. I don't look as nice as my older sisters, but I ended up with a lot of the qualities of my mother when she was very old. Although my mom had a much more feminine look, HRT has brought out many of her qualities in my facial features. Kind of disturbing to look in a mirror and see your mom ... :D
Quote from: Albina on January 30, 2014, 12:12:08 AM
.... Now 2 years down the road, from which 1.5 years of living full time. No, I didn't go FT prematurely, it was just the right time since I was mostly taken for a girl even in guy's clothes, and I was recommended by my endo to go FT!
We all kind of know when it's right to go FT. I actually started about a month ahead of schedule because I had to, and couldn't wait any longer. It's incredibly liberating, and it completely eliminated the stress of living a part -time life. You're suddenly out to everyone, but it just doesn't matter.
I look much better than I ever dared dream. I'm still nowhere near as good looking as I was a man, but given that I pay very little attention to makeup, I'm pretty happy with the results.
I love this question...
I just started Spiro a couple of weeks ago and am hoping to add Estrogen very soon. I'm honestly not sure what to expect. I was fortunate enough to have a friend do a makeover for me for my first public outing as a woman a few years ago. I was stunned by the results, and still go back and look at the pictures from that night at least once a week. So while I'm trying not to get my hopes too high, at the same time I know I can be beautiful. As far as the body changes go, I honestly have no idea what I will look like and I am excited to to see.
Hi allisonsteph,
Just remember once you go on HT, not only will it put the final polish on what nature already blessed you with; it will also change your "brain vision" of how you look and feel. That's the thing o look forward to.
Huggs
Catherine
I had no expectations just the nervousness most of us face. I think I turned out very well and with my level of confidence have not had one bad experience passing yet. I went from zero to Full Time completely passing on Part Time. When I let my preconceived ideas and fears go everything just fell into place. I could never go back to "him" ever again. :)
honestly, my expectations of how i'll look are more specific to areas of my body instead of an entire image. All in All i expect to look like a girl :P what i expect to change most is simply my body hair and my facial appearance... and some hips would be great. Other than that i just want to be able to go to the beach in a bikini. (can't do it now because my body hair is just too course and too noticeable even after shaving, and my chest is still too man-scale broad)
I started going FT only 2 weeks ago (with the exception of not doing 100% FT at work only because my parents and co-workers needed time to accept the change, so i'm slowly going FT at work with the exception that I don't wear male clothes anymore, but for the sake of work i wear tight jeans and a girl tee or blouse and i bring my purse, still no make-up or bra.) when im not at work, i am FT no matter where i go, whether its to do groceries or to go out with friends to a bar or club.
I had a pretty good Idea. I've been dressing up and using make up a long time. I took pictures of my face wile dressed up. Then I would photo copy the pictures in black and white. You can see the structure of the face better. I have a lot of my mother features. Hopefully HRT will make these features more prominent . I've been on HRT for 4 months and it looks like it could be heading that way. I catch glimpses of a female face in different degrees of lighting. There are some shades of light that really bring out the feminine features quite well.
Yes, but it was based on how I looked pre-HRT dressed as a woman combined with how I used to look as a very, very feminine teenage boy. The end result is different, though mostly for the better. (Mostly. I was a lot skinnier back then. ;) )
I am startled by how much I ended up looking like my sister and mother; sometimes I mistake a photo of my sister for me, now. I was convinced that I'd have this horrifically enormous forehead that screamed "male," but it turns out that high smooth foreheads clearly run in the family on the women's side, and now that I have the same mouth and eye shape as my mom and sis (and actual cheekbones), the whole package looks totally different.
My boobs and butt have exceeded expectations, my hips are about what I'd pictured, and I did NOT get thicker glossier hair (...might be just as well, my hair as it is can eat a brush) or a super-hourglass shape (oh well).
Quote from: Jenna Marie on January 30, 2014, 04:18:46 PM
Yes, but it was based on how I looked pre-HRT dressed as a woman combined with how I used to look as a very, very feminine teenage boy. The end result is different, though mostly for the better. (Mostly. I was a lot skinnier back then. ;) )
I am startled by how much I ended up looking like my sister and mother; sometimes I mistake a photo of my sister for me, now. I was convinced that I'd have this horrifically enormous forehead that screamed "male," but it turns out that high smooth foreheads clearly run in the family on the women's side, and now that I have the same mouth and eye shape as my mom and sis (and actual cheekbones), the whole package looks totally different.
My boobs and butt have exceeded expectations, my hips are about what I'd pictured, and I did NOT get thicker glossier hair (...might be just as well, my hair as it is can eat a brush) or a super-hourglass shape (oh well).
same with me with the boobs. My sisters got large boobs. I look a lot like my sisters
I had no idea what to expect, but I guess I'm grateful for everything that has happened so far. I figure I'll let the HRT do its thing for another 18 months before I do anything major surgery-wise. I'm getting some minor tweaks on mah face soon, but they are subtle things that I probably would have done eventually even if I wasn't trans.
After HRT's full effects have manifested themselves physically, I'm going to just hand the surgeons pictures of Angelina Jolie and Dolly Parton and tell them to have at it. ;)
Quote from: Jill F on January 30, 2014, 08:49:55 PM
I had no idea what to expect, but I guess I'm grateful for everything that has happened so far. I figure I'll let the HRT do its thing for another 18 months before I do anything major surgery-wise. I'm getting some minor tweaks on mah face soon, but they are subtle things that I probably would have done eventually even if I wasn't trans.
After HRT's full effects have manifested themselves physically, I'm going to just hand the surgeons pictures of Angelina Jolie and Dolly Parton and tell them to have at it. ;)
nice combo
Stephanie : There are worse ways to take after your sisters, right? :)
(I dunno where I got my boobs - Mom's 34B, sis is 36D, I'm 42DDD. Oops.)
I would preface by saying that image change wasn't my primary goal. Job one was to shed my depression and improve how I felt physically day-to-day. On that count the change has been immeasurable.
Looks-wise my greatest concern was my face and hair. Early on I had to resort to fiddling with photoshop to get any realistic sense of where I was headed and to judge my chances of success. This lead to a very strange and emotionally powerful moment that formed part of a major turning point in my mind on committing to transition and my new identity. I had made some very minor modifications to my face in a photo, mainly smoothing out the skin to simulate foundation and hide beard shadow, changing my hairstyle and thinning the brows. You know how they say if you stare at yourself in the mirror long enough you'll eventually see a different face? Well what happened when I stared at that image was bizarre and may have had something to do with my extreme depression at the time making me mildly nuts. I swear the face in the photo actually smiled back at me and I instantly burst into tears. I realized that what I saw was the face I'd been looking for all my life rather than the male alien in the mirror. It was also clearly an achievable goal. In a really weird and round-about way this was how my mind sorted out my situation for me and sold me on my new path.
Now that I've since had two years of hair growth, a year of laser and months of HRT under my belt I am actually seeing that face become reality. I think I'm also mentally adjusting to my identity and it is changing my self-perception to something better. At this point I can clearly see the little things remaining that may need minor FFS because they are bone structure but everything else is better. The change to the condition of my skin alone from the dramatic reduction in beard and shaving-related irritation is mind-blowing.
Quote from: Jenna Marie on January 30, 2014, 08:54:10 PM
Stephanie : There are worse ways to take after your sisters, right? :)
(I dunno where I got my boobs - Mom's 34B, sis is 36D, I'm 42DDD. Oops.)
that's definitely true
With hindsight, I look like what would have been expected: basically the same as before, but now a girl. I was an attractive guy (not that I noticed it at the time), and I make a fairly attractive girl. Perhaps, I envisaged being younger than this, I seem to home in on the wrinkles when looking in the mirror ;)
Quote from: KateConnors on January 31, 2014, 12:41:59 AM
I seem to home in on the wrinkles when looking in the mirror ;)
Well that's just part of the package of being a woman ;)
I've only been on HRT for around a month now, and I still have allot of work to do in terms of grooming, glasses, makeup and clothing etc.
But I don't really have an image of what I will look like, and I kinda feel a bit like I don't really care.
I really want to be able to pass in public, at least most of the time, simply because I don't think anybody wants to go through the rest of their life feeling like they are being stared at etc (or at least in a negative way)
As long as I pass I will be happy I think, I don't need to be beautiful, or cute or anything, I just just be able to live my life the way it is supposed to be, and be seen for who I really am <3
I mean, who gets to choose what they look like anyway? ^^
what did I want? most definitely as the most important was to be visually and entirely seen as a natal female.
More deeply though, was the feeling of lost youth and the feeling of being pretty, which eluded my consciousness for obvious reasons.
Reality of starting transition at a ripe age of 44 held a rather grim promise, perhaps one of impossibility and a sentence to life without parole of being just different in the scrutiny of societal compass.
The outcome further complicated by life time of bodybuilding, (yes, denial mechanism) and heck of a testosterone ravished body.
But with start of physical transformation and all inclusive club of rejection, ridicule and loss, came immense pain and such gave rise to otherwise nonexistent spirituality.
This spirituality started to transform everything, and the belief in the inevitable, gave new inspiration, that perhaps all that I used to know about the world and all the preconceived ideas, were just mere false interpretation of how things work.
I lived by my spirituality, every breath and every minute of my new life was surrounded by deep belief that there are no impossibilities, no barriers I couldn't overcome, that everything unfolds as it should and I DO have the power to influence the universe.
Long story short, 3 years later and I am living the most incredible life.
What I have hoped for in my wildest dreams had come true and life had surpassed it ever since.
To the point that I had modeled, not as a trans anything, no, but as a WOMAN!
But I am humble to realize that this journey is not over, not by a long shot, I still have insecurities, and dysphoria is a bi..ch to overcome.
I keep on pushing the envelope!
But one single feeling that keeps me marching on is the strive for entirety, the need to be fully immersed, the body and mind, into womanhood, at least as much as realm of this universe will allow.
My expectations have been simple, except for the damage done by testosterone (male pattern baldness), I expect to resemble my mother and my daughter. And people say they are seeing that. I do have plans for FFS eventually but at my age and with financial obligations things move slower than I would otherwise wish. Yet I am making progress! If, at the age of 60 (a few years hence) I can be a third as attractive as my mother was, I will consider myself a smashing success. :)
I had a vague idea what to expect....some of my features retained more masculine indicators that I'd hoped, but overall I'm prettier than I ever thought I'd be.
I started living part time as a teen and was cute enough to attract more than my share of attention. I went full time with SRS at age 24 and it didn't matter to me WHAT I looked like - I had to be ME even if I was ugly LOL! Turned out I didn't have to worry about that. I continued to be "cute", maybe a bit more in the classical sense than the modern young girl image. Forty years later, I look much better than most GGs my age (or so I am told) ;D Good genes I guess. I also think that, in one's senior years, estrogen maintains that youthful look.
LOL good question.
I will need FFS to look really good.. because I will need a face lift anyway ...
My endo and I were talking and she said after FFS I wont be drop dead gorgeous but better than most Cis women.. so we will see..she said she wished she had my hair...I thought that was funny..so we will see. after I drop that 30k on the face I just hope I am passable and a decent looking lady..
All I know is I feel so dang good now on HRT the looks has become a secondary thing for me.. even if I had to present male I would continue.. I like whats happening to my mind and body.. I feel alive.
Carrie
I have a few hopes and expectations for the outcomes related to HRT, though I constantly remind myself that I shouldn't get my hopes up too high.
Most of my expectations are based on what I've seen in other MtF people. Things like a softened jawline, slightly "fuller" looking face per fat redistribution, some slight thickening of the hips, and if I can achieve an A cup I'll be happy, and I'd be ecstatic with a B! lol I feel like my face is somewhat androgynous to begin with, so maybe I'm lucky in the respect that I have a good starting point.
Really, I just try to be realistic with my expectations for fear of wanting too much and being disappointed later on. Ya know?
Quote from: Chic on January 29, 2014, 10:52:49 PM
Before transitioning, I'm guessing you may have had a mental image of what you expected or thought you might look like after transitioning. Did your prediction come true? Do you look like you expected? Is it a better or worse result?
For those of you who haven't transitioned yet and are planning to, what do you expect? What is your prediction for how you will look during and after transition?
Not at all, I had no idea what I would look like before I started transition. In fact I wasn't ever planning on transitioning due to I thought I could never pull off looking even slightly female yet alone be pretty. I didn't think this could be possible for me.
The results, yes they are way better than I could ever have imagined! It was a rough start but once I got the ball rolling everything just started working out and slowly falling into place. Still waiting on more boobs and some hips!
Quote from: Carrie Liz on January 29, 2014, 11:36:34 PM
I'm going to be honest, I had no idea what I was going to look like. All I had going in was hope. I'd seen some truly amazing transformations through Youtube videos, and I just had blind faith that somehow it would work out.
It was hard to hold on to that hope, since I was so big and had so many masculine body features to start out with. My roommate even told me, before I had taken a single hormone, "If you want my honest opinion, I think you'd make an ugly woman."
It took around 4 months on hormones before I started seeing her... that beautiful female self that was slowly emerging. And I saw how it was going to work. And that feeling was unlike anything else in the world... it was like meeting myself anew for the first time... just this feeling of sheer and utter completeness, as for the first time in my life I saw what truly appeared to be a female version of myself. And she was more than I could ever have hoped for. It was surreal, having a picture of me that I was actually happy with. For almost a month straight, I was putting on that wig almost every single day, just so that I could get a glimpse of her. And at that moment, I realized, I don't have an idealized version of a female self that I want to live up to... all I want is to be able to see her in the mirror every single day.
Unfortunately, I'm not there yet. My true female self, the one that doesn't require that "Vintage Vixen" wig in order to look that way, is still engaged in the long arduous process of emerging. But I'm slowly seeing her emerge more and more with every single day.
^THIS!^ I couldn't have said it better myself! It was exactley like this!
Quote from: missadventure on January 29, 2014, 11:36:22 PM
I spent so many decades training my brain to NOT think about it, so now that I am willing to think about it, my brain wont comply :(
However, I did turn to photoshop and created an artist rendering of "in my wildest dreams will I look like this one day"
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-BhWsmxHRnEk%2FUqLZ9lZVRaI%2FAAAAAAAAAAg%2FG7KcXRMzt1E%2Fs1600%2Fdreams2c.png&hash=99b7763db26782d63d81b5f3cb1d4be48a79f792)
Hopefully I can at least come close.
Currently on a good day I look like this:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Ehyu0EQcMhM%2FUtePLdb3j1I%2FAAAAAAAAAD8%2Ft20GYQ21TkM%2Fs1600%2Fphoto%286%29.jpg&hash=aec052ec5ab33dfa024cd122d6646627e9bda332)
So true. I as well tried so hard to repress that part of me, I just never tried to think about it. I didn't even pick out a name until I was like 24-25.
All I really care about is that I look how I feel, female.
I will be happy with whatever I'm given.
I didn't really know what to expect, I always thought I was ugly. There was just... something... wrong with my face. I grew into it though and I'm happy with it. My body is a few notches too masculine for my tastes but its still pretty. A lot of times I see people with really pretty faces and I get jealous and depressed cus my face is wider than I'd like it to be. Basically, it's not perfect but I'm happy with it. And I think I'm still developing too, so I'll only get prettier, I hope!
Honestly my train of thought was I can't look worse than what I am, I mean hrt can't make me look more masculine surely. I imagined I would be fairly passable appearance wise in the end and that would suit me just fine.
Jump to current I'm honestly quite surprised at how well my body has reacted to hormone treatment. I was moderately passable at 4 months and now at 8 months I'm never mistaken as a male (that i know of). Even those who i have told I'm transsexual, like my electrolysist (Who thought I was a normal cispatient getting facial treatment) or my bank when changing my legal bank details where quite surprised, saying they would never have guessed.
My expectations have certainly been exceeded that's for sure :). I suppose it just all depends on how well your own body will react to hormones as the mileage can vary greatly. It's a game of chance most of the time, though things like age, health and good genetics can help tip the odds in your favour.
Just be happy with what you get, that's my philosophy with hrt.