Long time no see everyone!
It's been a good 1 year and 7 months on T for me...but last night, I decided it's time to figure things out and take preventive measures. My PCP (who also specializes in trans care) suggested way in the beginning that he'd like me to have a total hysto within 5 years after starting T. I'm cool with having a hysto, but I want to keep my ovaries.
I'm almost certain that I would like to freeze my eggs sometime in the near future (probably within 2-4 years). The reason I didn't do it before T was that I was only 18, couldn't finance it, had to prepare myself for starting college as a young man - rather than a young lady, and the like. I don't want to be completely sterile (but if it happens on its own from T, it happens, oh well)

The other thing is, I'm going into bioengineering. I'm beginning research on genetic engineering, and sperm/egg engineering and fertility next year after my prereqs are finished. More on this in another post, but I'm definitely decided on trying to keep my ovaries for upcoming events!

Anyways. How many of you have been on T for a while and decided against hysto/oopho/both? If you have, then what precautionary measures do you take? That one case of a trans man having ovarian cancer really shocked me last night, so I've been a bit tense about it all day, starting to feel "psychological" feelings in my uterine area xD (hypochondriac here!)
Anyone had any issues in those areas? Anything to specifically watch out for?

Anyone?
And was also wondering, does having a hysto make a difference in climax?

I'm in the middle of deciding how far I want to go with my hysto and what my insurance will even pay for. When I was just contemplating T I was gonna go and get an IUD and save up to get sterilized. I don't want anything to do with any of the reproductive organs in there honestly. You may have to go to the gyno and ask if you can still freeze eggs, but you might have to stop T while doing that. The risk is higher, but I don't remember the rates for people of cancer for 5+ years. Some guys can't afford it and stay on T but I haven't actually heard many horror stories about cancer. Dont' let the stats scare you and think hard before going and doing it.

It all depends on your outlook of your life. Do you want to freeze the eggs for the future? Are you having any doubts about full vs partial?  Being on T won't make you completely sterile on it's own, but will damage the eggs so it'd probably would be very difficult.

What are your thoughts on children? About orgasms: I know some peeps who had hystos and they noted no difference. TMI but I never really got the hang of internal only orgasms, so depending on your style they may slightly change but since it's not affecting the walls of inside but getting rid of the reproductive stuff, if they do a laparoscopy I don't see much change for that.

Good luck!

Quote from: campenella on June 18, 2014, 12:27:17 AM
I'm in the middle of deciding how far I want to go with my hysto and what my insurance will even pay for. When I was just contemplating T I was gonna go and get an IUD and save up to get sterilized. I don't want anything to do with any of the reproductive organs in there honestly. You may have to go to the gyno and ask if you can still freeze eggs, but you might have to stop T while doing that. The risk is higher, but I don't remember the rates for people of cancer for 5+ years. Some guys can't afford it and stay on T but I haven't actually heard many horror stories about cancer. Dont' let the stats scare you and think hard before going and doing it.

It all depends on your outlook of your life. Do you want to freeze the eggs for the future? Are you having any doubts about full vs partial?  Being on T won't make you completely sterile on it's own, but will damage the eggs so it'd probably would be very difficult.

What are your thoughts on children? About orgasms: I know some peeps who had hystos and they noted no difference. TMI but I never really got the hang of internal only orgasms, so depending on your style they may slightly change but since it's not affecting the walls of inside but getting rid of the reproductive stuff, if they do a laparoscopy I don't see much change for that.

Good luck!

I don't mind stopping T sometime in the near future but I definitely need to save up money before I do, because I heard banking eggs is pretty expensive. Ah...wouldn't life be much more easy, stress-free if everyone had the money to live comfortably? -.- (everyone's wish of course...)
By the time I get off T for that short period of time, I should have all of my remaining changes set in. I know that if I get off of it for a bit, not much will change within that time besides mood and possible fat gain/redistribution (although this usually takes a while to kick in, took me about a year on T to notice any redistribution). So I don't mind, but I know that it's not good to get on, get off, really confuses your body.

Honestly, I want to keep all of my organs intact inside of me. Even uterus. I don't know...I can't really part with what's mine. Adding things on, sure. I'd love to have a full functioning male organ added on and everything...but removing, not so much. I don't know why. It makes me feel "whole". But the major reason is that I want to have a biological kid someday, so I want to keep my ovaries. But I'd rather give everything up rather than develop some illness because, well, I care more about other people than myself...and I can't allow them to suffer if I develop something. Not happening. Gotta keep myself alive and healthy for them lol

About orgasms, I heard 1-2 people say that no more powerful orgasms because what it consists of is uterine contractions(?) I don't know... I don't want to lose that obviously ._.

I seriously stressed myself out beyond words today. For the first time in almost a year I sat here nearly weeping thinking of what have I done. What if I already have some sort of issue going on? What if I'll die young? I can't do that to my family and partner. I look pretty lame and pathetic right now but I feel extremely depressed. I really, really want to just...keep all my organs, be healthy, and continue growing into a young man. Is that too much to ask for? Man... I'm sorry for being all dramatic

I've never heard of anyone whose sex experience changed after having a hysterectomy, but supposedly that can happen.

I don't really have any advice on this but I'm glad you brought it up. I've been on T for a few years and I totally forgot about getting pap smears and checkups. I haven't decided against getting hysto/oopho, but I definitely put it out of my mind because I'm not looking forward to dealing with insurance and surgeons. Plus hospital staff misgender me more than anyone else. Hmm.

I haven't taken any precautionary measures. I had problems with cysts, but that went away after I'd been on hormones for awhile. I do have my tubes tied, so I never was concerned about how to procreate. I was kind of always heading in the other direction, with trying not to. If you think you might want biological kids, freezing some eggs is a great idea.

Whatever you decide you need, be aggressive about asking for it.

Have you ever lost teeth, or had part of a limb removed? Are you sure it's rational to fear losing body parts? You shed cells all day and you change your clothes all the time, I'm not sure what would be missing if you got rid of organs you aren't using. Maybe you have a legit fear of not being able to reproduce. It sounds like you want to be able to pass on your genetics. That is a powerful ability that would be taken away with hysto/oopho, so maybe it's kind of an emasculation you're watching out for.

Quote from: Felix on June 18, 2014, 01:20:52 AM
Have you ever lost teeth, or had part of a limb removed? Are you sure it's rational to fear losing body parts? You shed cells all day and you change your clothes all the time, I'm not sure what would be missing if you got rid of organs you aren't using. Maybe you have a legit fear of not being able to reproduce. It sounds like you want to be able to pass on your genetics. That is a powerful ability that would be taken away with hysto/oopho, so maybe it's kind of an emasculation you're watching out for.

You're absolutely right: I do fear not being able to reproduce. I feel like...without that ability, I'm not whole. I have no purpose, because all living organisms were created with reproduction in mind. Honestly, I don't like kids much. Maybe it's because they aren't my kids, but I don't have any fondness toward younger kids (or maybe it's because my estrogen is low and always was low?) But that doesn't mean I don't want to one day have a kid with someone I love. It's actually one of my biggest fantasies as a person. To each their own, of course, but I feel like it shouldn't be a privilege for cisgender people, but a right for every person (if, of course, they want to have kids).

I'll never be using my uterus to carry a kid, but my ovaries, I feel like I'll have a use for them one day or another. Somehow, someway.

Is it possible that with appropriate testing yearly, everything could be fine in the end? I have insurance, my state finally approved it, but I guess I just don't have the willpower to go through with everything. I'm just stressed out and fearing the worst. Yet, rationally...what is 1 year 7 months on T? Just the beginning, huh? Not much could go wrong within this time...or so I think...

This is a good question, I have been thinking about something along those lines. Though I want to remove my uterus 100%, I have wistful thinking of the surgical breakthroughs in converting ovaries to testes (they are homologous organs after all). Also in the event that I can't take T in the future, at least my body has the ability to produce some hormones. Then again, I worry too about ovarian complications on T.

I posted a topic on here about egg donation, which is similar to harvesting eggs for egg freezing. Not sure if you're aware but you are pumped with female hormones to stimulate ovaries to ripen eggs, and you must cease testosterone. So just giving you a heads up if you decide to go that route.

Best of luck.

Quote from: Felix on June 18, 2014, 01:20:52 AM
Have you ever lost teeth, or had part of a limb removed? Are you sure it's rational to fear losing body parts? You shed cells all day and you change your clothes all the time, I'm not sure what would be missing if you got rid of organs you aren't using. Maybe you have a legit fear of not being able to reproduce. It sounds like you want to be able to pass on your genetics. That is a powerful ability that would be taken away with hysto/oopho, so maybe it's kind of an emasculation you're watching out for.

I don't really agree about it being irrational because I feel the same way about vaginectomy when I was deciding on bottom surgery. The thought of having it gone forever at the beginning scared me and I thought 'This is where I might have regret!' I want top surgery and I still feel a tiny bit torn about it because while I want it, I still feel like somewhere there may be  a sort of a 'sense of loss' for a while. Everyone feels differently about their body and how they handle dysphoria vs the sense of wanting children. Or if it is irrational-that's what's sort of normal about it, diferent trans people want/need different things.

Quote from: BearGuy on June 18, 2014, 01:36:52 AM

Is it possible that with appropriate testing yearly, everything could be fine in the end? I have insurance, my state finally approved it, but I guess I just don't have the willpower to go through with everything. I'm just stressed out and fearing the worst. Yet, rationally...what is 1 year 7 months on T? Just the beginning, huh? Not much could go wrong within this time...or so I think...

Like I said before, discuss your options fully and your doubts with your doctor. You will have to go on Female hormones and that might cause you huge dysphoria going back to them. Talk to your doc about what it would entail, how long you would do it and what changes you can expect.

I'm really sorry to break this to you, but I strongly recommend you do your research before deciding to go down the egg freezing route.

Any form of IVF has a high failure rate (at best, the chance of pregnancy is only 32%) but egg freezing has such a high failure rate that experts in human fertility do not recommend it. Anyway, frozen eggs should only be stored for 2 years after being frozen for best results, so you'd be paying a small fortune for two years' grace.

Your best bet is to either freeze your ovarian tissue, or to have some eggs fertilised and then have the resulting embryos frozen. Or wait until doctors are able to produce viable sperm cells from your stem cells (researchers are working on this at the moment; no idea if/when it will become available.).

Sorry man.

On orgasms, mine are better after complete hysto. (even ovaries removed)

I agree re: researching this more. This is not really something that is very doable at our stage of research, it's not really like freezing sperm, which is quite doable. The egg is much more complex than the simple sperm--as a one celled entity.

Also implanting eggs is very problematic, and as FTM diaries says has a high rate of failure.

BTW, I don't think the ovaries have any role whatsoever in terms of orgasms. If you feel them then there is more likely to be something wrong I think.

--Jay

Quote from: FTMDiaries on June 18, 2014, 10:16:52 AM
I'm really sorry to break this to you, but I strongly recommend you do your research before deciding to go down the egg freezing route.

Any form of IVF has a high failure rate (at best, the chance of pregnancy is only 32%) but egg freezing has such a high failure rate that experts in human fertility do not recommend it. Anyway, frozen eggs should only be stored for 2 years after being frozen for best results, so you'd be paying a small fortune for two years' grace.

Your best bet is to either freeze your ovarian tissue, or to have some eggs fertilised and then have the resulting embryos frozen. Or wait until doctors are able to produce viable sperm cells from your stem cells (researchers are working on this at the moment; no idea if/when it will become available.).

Sorry man.

...............................................

Quote from: FTMDiaries on June 18, 2014, 10:16:52 AM
I'm really sorry to break this to you, but I strongly recommend you do your research before deciding to go down the egg freezing route.

Any form of IVF has a high failure rate (at best, the chance of pregnancy is only 32%) but egg freezing has such a high failure rate that experts in human fertility do not recommend it. Anyway, frozen eggs should only be stored for 2 years after being frozen for best results, so you'd be paying a small fortune for two years' grace.

Your best bet is to either freeze your ovarian tissue, or to have some eggs fertilised and then have the resulting embryos frozen. Or wait until doctors are able to produce viable sperm cells from your stem cells (researchers are working on this at the moment; no idea if/when it will become available.).

Sorry man.

wait what, we can produce sperm cells for eggs? whattt lol I know I was reading an article about scientist working on repairing eggs with other eggs so technically a baby would be related to three people, the two egg donors and the one sperm donor, which is awesome for science

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/three-parent-babies-possible-%E2%80%98-two-years%E2%80%99-according-uk-report

Quote from: Felix on June 18, 2014, 01:17:34 AM

Whatever you decide you need, be aggressive about asking for it.

Ya know, this kept me up a while thinking last night. I think it's one of the best phrases I've heard. I have a flaw where I passionately want things to happen, yet I rarely act on them...if I do, then I don't do it aggressively. Thanks you sir, I really appreciate it 

Quote from: Ryan55 on June 18, 2014, 08:47:27 PM
wait what, we can produce sperm cells for eggs?

No, not quite. You can't (currently) change an egg cell into a sperm cell; what they're currently working on is taking stem cells and growing them into individual sperm cells. That is very doable. They'd then use those individual, lab-grown sperm cells to fertilise eggs in vitro and the usual IVF procedures would follow.

Quote from: Ryan55 on June 18, 2014, 08:47:27 PM
I know I was reading an article about scientist working on repairing eggs with other eggs so technically a baby would be related to three people, the two egg donors and the one sperm donor, which is awesome for science

Those 'three-parent babies' are a wonderful advancement, and this is a promising solution when the mother has faulty mitochondrial DNA. Not to get too sciencey, but you get two types of DNA from your folks: nuclear DNA (the famous one we all know, with the double helix design) which is inherited from both parents, and mitochondrial DNA which is only inherited from your mother.

If the mother's mitochondrial DNA is faulty, probably the easiest way to fix this is by taking the mother's nuclear DNA and placing it in a healthy donor egg that has healthy mitochondrial DNA. This will prevent certain birth defects and disabilities, and is a fantastic thing. It also has a negligible effect on the parentage of the resulting child, because it is the nuclear DNA that contains practically all of the instructions that go into making you who you are.

Yay science!   

I got an oopho for health reasons because I suffer(ed) from extreme endometriosis (type 3-4-ish) and I decided I was fed up with it all. My doctor initially just wanted to remove one because it was so damaged from endometriosis, but I told her I wanted to get rid of both because I figured might as well and kill two birds with one stone. Don't regret it a single bit. I am not too keen on the idea of having children the female way either way as the idea of carrying a child utterly terrifies me and I always found it weird and strange. If I'm having a kid in the future it's through adoption, definitely. I also carry a lot of crap genes so it's better for both of us, really.

I switched to HRT two weeks after my surgery and I don't regret that either. Dealt with any potential menopausal problems I may have experienced.

Quote from: BearGuy on June 17, 2014, 10:26:18 PM
Anyone?
And was also wondering, does having a hysto make a difference in climax?

I'd say this is a myth except if you are pre-T. Since the ovaries contain/create estrogen which of course would have to do with sex drive. If you do penetrative sex some people say they can feel the cervix, whcih may or may not be your thing. For me it would not be in the slightest. If you are on T, I don't think you need to worry about sex.

--Jay

Quote from: campenella on June 18, 2014, 08:28:40 AM
I don't really agree about it being irrational because I feel the same way about vaginectomy when I was deciding on bottom surgery. The thought of having it gone forever at the beginning scared me and I thought 'This is where I might have regret!' I want top surgery and I still feel a tiny bit torn about it because while I want it, I still feel like somewhere there may be  a sort of a 'sense of loss' for a while. Everyone feels differently about their body and how they handle dysphoria vs the sense of wanting children. Or if it is irrational-that's what's sort of normal about it, diferent trans people want/need different things.

I certainly don't believe it's irrational, kind of wondering myself as much as asking. I do have some strong reflexive objection to the sterilization that some countries require. I think my primary feelings have a lot to do with population explosions and parentless children, which is an abstraction when it comes to actually dealing with real life.

I think I don't have any worries about my sexual experience whether I keep my uterus and ovaries or not, though, now that I consider it. Having any hormone source should be enough, and I'm willing to adapt my sensation preferences if that is necessary.