Yes, i was able to do it because social transition was a really important step in improving my mental state of being. I didnt care what others had to say about me regarding the decisions i made. Everything i have done until this day, i have done with my own sheer will power in order to love myself. To me, being able to live comfortably in my own skin and finally expressing who i am on the inside gave me strength to live on. I knew what my end goal was and i set small goals for myself because i focus on the present and i take it one step at a time. If i had different circumstances and maybe a little older than i am now, then no, i probably wouldnt be able to do it without hormones.

Nah. Social transition and being perceived as female is only part of the equation. The effects of hormones on the physical make up of my body and how my brain receives stimuli is extremy important

Yes,  in fact I did.

I went full time five months before I began HRT. I changed my name and gender legally before I began HRT. If for some reason I was denied HRT it wouldn't have changed my transition plans on bit.

I never could have done it. It took me almost a year and a half of hormones before I started passing consistently.

Testosterone was like the ugly blimp hormone for me... it mutated my arms, legs, face, and midbody into a giant disgusting muscular mass. Also, I would have been bald before long.

So yeah... I could never have done it without hormones. Even with hormones I had complete and total "I can't do this" breakdowns because I felt like my body was unfixably masculine.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on June 04, 2015, 06:48:14 AM
I never could have done it. It took me almost a year and a half of hormones before I started passing consistently.

Testosterone was like the ugly blimp hormone for me... it mutated my arms, legs, face, and midbody into a giant disgusting muscular mass. Also, I would have been bald before long.

So yeah... I could never have done it without hormones. Even with hormones I had complete and total "I can't do this" breakdowns because I felt like my body was unfixably masculine.

w ell, quite obviously you been proven wrong about unfixable . 

this may sound odd, but did anyone in here that did transition before hrt, did you ever have your testosterone levels checked and find them low?  I still believe the hormones were a great confidence booster, but the lack of testosterone is a whole different feeling in itself too.  (or to me it was.)

Quote from: Carrie Liz on June 04, 2015, 06:48:14 AM
I never could have done it. It took me almost a year and a half of hormones before I started passing consistently.

Testosterone was like the ugly blimp hormone for me... it mutated my arms, legs, face, and midbody into a giant disgusting muscular mass. Also, I would have been bald before long.

Not at all complaining or offended   But I am bald, 6 foot tall, and with a moderately large bone structure. So I'm gonna have some hurdles myself. You're not alone Carrie Liz. But be your gorgeous self girl

The answer is no.

I wanted some physical proof that I was female. My hormone profile being estrogen dominant is that proof. Otherwise (for me) I would view myself as a cross dresser. I am not a cross dresser. Cross dressers are cool people but I am not one of them. People who transition without HRT aren't any less valid either but I'm not one of them. I also don't like to use prosthetics like breast forms. I don't even like wigs. Some people need them understandably but I want my body to reflect my identity and that is only possible with hormones and surgery.

There's only one exception I would make and that is if I were to transition as a child or teen.

YES!
Back in the 80's I had no idea what HRT was, dressed and accessorized female, just being myself I thought.  Fast forward to when I finally came clean. Informed my psychiatrist I was here seeking SRS, not hormones (HRT).  Underwent SRS 8 months later.

Never considered my 'cross dressing' (no breasts forms, butt) a fetish.  Just something transsexual women do to feel comfortable. It worked until 'intense transsexualism' took over.

I love what HRT does.  Especially to my face but it was not a deal breaker.

In an age before modern medicine, I would most likely die young by suicide and get by using my youthful looks as a gay man, desperate enough might become enuch (cut sack genitals off).

I can live if I had looks, but I cannot live without hope of love as being the feminine lover. If I turn into a rugged old ugly man.. then Im better off dead. Rather be an ugly woman than an average man.

All other things being equal and it being, say, a hundred years ago, I would not. I was 54 when reality got through my thick skull. Given the conditions I have, and the average life expectancy then, I would have died of natural causes long before I reached 54.

I think I would actually, but i'm not saying it wouldn't be hard. It most certainly would. Back in the old days 80's girls used premarin to transition, and while this changed their bodies, usually breast growth was minimal to non-existent, I think. And they didn't have testosterone blockers. I wouldn't consider it cross dressing, I don't know how I would cope with having an andro body with just SRS and no boobs, but I would probably cheat and create cleavage, I guess. My face wouldn't change, so the trick would be makeupmakeupmakeup. Since my voice is fairly high, this wouldn't be a problem. However, if I was clockable I don't know if I could. I think hormones are a confidence booster.

I used to think that it would be something I'd never ever do, but recently I got to a point where I seriously considered going fulltime without them because it's been such a hassle to get them with therapists lying about their experience, trying to cure me, leaving their jobs after 2-3 sessions, etc. I was strongly urged against it and finally have a therapist ready to give me a letter at the next appointment, but it's still a struggle to not just do it anyway.

Quote from: Cynobyte on June 04, 2015, 07:26:25 AM
this may sound odd, but did anyone in here that did transition before hrt, did you ever have your testosterone levels checked and find them low?  I still believe the hormones were a great confidence booster, but the lack of testosterone is a whole different feeling in itself too.  (or to me it was.)

Mines was ~304ng/dl. It was a bit on the low side, but  my nurse practioner said since we took my blood later in the evening(when T lvls are at their lowest) it might not be 100% accurate.

I suppose there's no way of knowing how desperate I'd get, but I'll be forever grateful that HRT made it possible for me to blend quietly into the cis population. I think I would have had to become a lot MORE desperate, because it was finding out about HRT - that I could naturally develop along the lines of the woman I would have been with a female puberty - that convinced me to try transitioning.

(And my T level was 180 on the scale where normal starts at 300... but I never had any symptoms.)

Quote from: Cynobyte on June 04, 2015, 07:26:25 AM
this may sound odd, but did anyone in here that did transition before hrt, did you ever have your testosterone levels checked and find them low?  I still believe the hormones were a great confidence booster, but the lack of testosterone is a whole different feeling in itself too.  (or to me it was.)

I did not transition before HRT but I have been plagued with low T and ED for a long time. When my first baseline labs came back they were like 185.

Nobody ever got my hormone levels right until I intervened and went on Hormone strike. My T level wasn't measured until I had been on Estrogen for 8 months and by then it was non existent. My Doc told me is was too low to measure. This was without a T blocker. Maybe it was always too low we'll never know.

Hugs

Sorcha 

Wow! I was the high scorer with 203, pre-HRT. Never saw that coming.

I would have to be on hormones to even consider transitioning. I wouldn't have the courage or the beginning of curves to pull off anything good.

I started to transition before hormones. it was once i got hormones that I started full time. but before that it was everywhere but at work