Hey. So, a couple times around here I've seen posts by people who are thinking about taking testosterone, but don't particularly desire certain changes, or only want changes "partway". It seems pretty common for transmasculine people to want changes to voice, body fat distribution, and muscle mass, but not want facial or body hair.
Usually, people point out that you can't pick and choose what changes come from testosterone. But facial hair, body hair, and genital growth are largely the result of DHT, not testosterone. On the other hand, men with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency (an intersex condition where they don't produce DHT), tend to have normal male-range voices, musculature, and (it seems) fat distribution.
So, couldn't someone take testosterone with a DHT blocker to cause generalized masculinization, but without androgenic hair? That would, theoretically, solve the problem of the nonbinary person who wants to change their fat distribution or needs to pass at not-female, but doesn't want "manly" hair distribution. Or someone who JUST wants a lower voice, and WOULD take T temporarily if not for the body hair.
This is an interesting topic. I would also like to know this since I am non binary.
This is an interesting question, and as you said, very relevant to non-binary people. Might anyone on the Non-Binary board have an answer?
Pretty sure this has been raised a few times, there was a thread about taking T and Finasteride to block DHT. From memory the results were mixed.
Quote from: Ms Grace on December 22, 2014, 02:29:17 PM
Pretty sure this has been raised a few times, there was a thread about taking T and Finasteride to block DHT. From memory the results were mixed.
I've been on low-dose testosterone for about a year and a half. I've just started taking finasteride a few days ago. I started out as a "pretty little girly girl" visually. French genetics, I suppose. I look semi-androgynous but definitively on the female side now, from what I've been told. All strangers refer to me as a cis-woman. Except one time when I was out with one of my partners this one homophobic ->-bleeped-<- called us ->-bleeped-<-gots. But I'm discounting that data point, for obvious reasons.
Guess I'll see how it goes. I'm not out publicly and I'm not comfortable putting self-pics up online. But I'm happy to try to describe the changes I see, if that helps.