I'm 48 years old, married and I am a woman inside trapped in a males body, I'm also in the closet hiding. and im shy and introverted and scared. there is no doubt in my mind on my internal femininity. its like a light bulb turned on, that now explains everything about my life to this point, everything is in focus, yet now I'm aware of pain there i have been carrying for decades.

in secret i have an hrt appointment in two weeks.

I'm pretty fit, and i did my make up fully the other day (in secret) and i thought i looked well good.

what can i expect from my hrt? how feminine will it be for someone my age?
any success stories, pictures of folks my age group?

I started at 47 myself and that avatar really is me now. It can work wonders for some.

I started close to 50.

I have some facial feminization. The reduction of dysphoria and other wonderful benefits of being on the right hormones has a lot of benefits in an of itself.

Do not be afraid. If you can try to get a gender therapist to help you through the tough times it may be well worth the effort.

HRT works wonders at any age.  It is a slow process.  You will not get results over night.  But I think I can say that you will get a peaceful feeling and see internal differences after a few weeks.

Let us know how your first appointment goes!

It varies from person to person. In general though it may take longer at your age but changes will happen. I'm in my 40's and it's all happening now after a slow start. It's not too late at all! You have every chance of a successful transition.

OMG I get excited at these encouraging words! Thank you for the encouragement.

Does anyone know if I will I get the hormones same day? they said appointment will be about 30 minutes, that seems pretty quick.  I am hoping to start them on that day....

It depends on where you live and if they do informed consent, or if you have seen a therapist. You will likely have blood work your first day. some places wait for those results before giving scripts. but each place is different.

Most likely not on the first apt but that may depend on where you are. The only other point is should add is don't get discouraged if initially progress seems minimal or slow. It will happen just give it time.

I'm west cost, great north west, its informed consent (or so is my understanding)

Depends on the doc/endo - you may need a blood test first depending on your health, weight, family health history etc.

I started at 47, BTW.

thank you for the shares and open-ness, wish I had come here sooner (been all over the net and ->-bleeped-<- too)

I am 51 and started full time hrt 10 months ago ( I used hrt off and on during the 10 years I was married, with some minimal breast growth). Over the years I have noticed some decrease in the size of my genitals, which is welcome. In the last 10 months I have had 2" of bust growth and now am close to a B cup. As others have mentioned, I feel much more at peace now and my general mood is now one of happiness. I have been seeing a gender therapist for many years now and I have been undergoing laser hair removal and have scheduled a consultation for FFS. I am not full time yet. Good luck and all the best.

thanks for the shares, if you don't mind me asking about the laser, I have an appointment for next week, I have some gray, which they say they can't get. what do you do in this case? electrolosis? shave?

With you on the grey hair. Best advice I can give is do 3 treatments and see how your greys do react. Going for my 4th soon but last treatment I had some the did actually get effected and I am also trying a spray that may help the laser sap the buggers. One other note is you skin color makes a big difference if more on the white side the better. If the hair is finer its also harder for laser to work. Myself I hope laser does the job since doesn't seem to be much for electro in my part of the world. You said great north and west maybe close I live in alberta, Canada and it appears there are some electro but not a lot but first give laser a try at least it is less painful from what I have heard and makes the electro easier too. If only we could transplant what hair we don't want and what we don't have well I would be in great shape well on that front.

Good luck and one thing I have also learned after you have your laser done exfoliate it will help a lot.

43 btw

I'm not really in your age group, but I think it's never too late to be yourself, and you know 50 is the new 40 or even 30 for some women. Still you should probably try and make realistic expectations and probably not be too secretive with your spouse, or at least try drop some hints at first, I don't know if she would be happy knowing that you were already on hrt without telling her something. At least, me personally I would not take it well, but every person is different, just try to be comfortable to that it will show.

Good luck

I did 3 laser treatments (3 months, 1/month) and am now doing electrolysis (weekly).

The best advise I can give you about the beard is start now. Make a commitment and budget funds.

Electrolysis for me will take 150 hours, my estimate. At 1.5 hours a week it is 100 weeks !!!

I have another question for everyone, so.. does HRT, affect Laser? I mean if I start on my MTF hormones will it slow down my hair growth on my face, and thus slow down how long it takes for laser to get all the hair? also you can stain the hair? that makes sense if it works would help the laser zero in (in theory anyway, right?).

guess I need to go read more on this stuff

and I agree with Serena, I need to come out to my wife in a final way sooner than later. I plan to do it very soon by reading her a letter I have been writing her (for a while now).

Here is my experience with laser, gray hair and HRT.

HRT did turn some of my facial hair white. I had a mixture black (65%), dark grey(20%), red(5%) and white hair(10%). Laser did nothing to red and white hair. It did weaken most of the dark gray hair (according to my electrologist since I was doing both at the same time, laser in dark, electrolysis on light hair.) After laser, the dark gray hair was thinner and she had to use less power so I see it as a plus.

As for staining hair like hair coloring does not work that is just surface color.
The laser needs to hit the lower hair under the skin so if it is an option then it needs to be a special dye that hits below the surface and good news there are some albeit not cheap. From what I understand it will help but will not get them all so like Sydney said red and white hairs electro is the only option. Basic difference between the 2 is laser is light that hits the follicle and electrolysis is a needle that targets each hair. I don't know what electro is first hand so cant judge that either and a warning it wont be a walk in the park but once its done it will help a lot:)

I'm a bit older and have a very salt and pepper beard.  I have opted to not even try the laser removal and have gone right into electrolysis.  It is the best method for a complete kill off. I did 2 hours right after I started HRT and it didn't bother me in the least. I am going Sunday for a 6 hour session with 2 techs so I will see what that feels like.

Just remember that -

You're never to old to become the person you are.....