Hey all,

I'm a bit new to this. MTF. Was wondering if HRT is going to effect my fertility..

Hi. I don't know for sure if it does but I'm pretty sure it would cause a really low sperm count. 

Quote from: Julia1996 on June 25, 2017, 08:27:51 AM
Hi. I don't know for sure if it does but I'm pretty sure it would cause a really low sperm count.

Hi ,

I read something silly I think that people said that it did make them fertile after 6months on hrt, probably isn't true but I'm like torn between if it does or if it doesn't.

Have you read anything about that?

Everything I have read is that it will make it would make it impossible for one to make children.  There are a few on here who have said that it didn't effect them in this way.  Odds are, however, that you would be incapable of making children.

Everyone responds differently.  So relying on HRT for birth control would be a bad idea.  But in general, your fertility will likely be reduced to the point where reproduction is very unlikely.  MTF folks are usually advised to bank sperm if they wish to retain the option of reproduction at a later date.

Thanks all for the responses.. the more I look into it the more I'm considering sperm banking, as you mentioned.. anyone know of any good sperm banks?

A friend of mine told me about this place that does sperm banking. They send you a kit so you can do it at home. My friend is transitioning as well, and being able to do this from home was a huge draw for them. This is their site: https://sppare.me/

Good luck!!

If you still are producing sperm they probably are veey few.  And of those the quality may be poor.  So yeah it does effect fertility.  It probably depends on how potent you were before this process started.

Does anyone know how to test sperm quality? I'm thinking of banking but not sure if I still can

Hi,

Before starting HRT my doctor told me that my fertility will be impacted. If I want to save sperm it would be a wise idea to do it before starting HRT.

However it is not a contraceptive method. So if I don't want children I better keep protected and/or use another contraceptive method.

So let's say that if you really want kids... freeze your sperm or consider adoption.
If you want not to have kids... protect yourself using a proven contraceptive method.
In any case, it is better to maximize your chance of getting what you want 

Fertility is impacted by HRT. To some extent it may be irreversible, but there is no guarantee and there are plenty of cases of women who have gone off of hormones for a while to try to conceive and had success. It also shouldn't be treated as a viable birth control option because there may still be a small amount of sperm produced. Around the 6 week mark after I started HRT, the consistency of my stuff changed drastically, I'm definitely not producing anything more than marginal amounts of sperm at this point, at most.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I definitely have a lot to learn..

I was told that it most certainly would make me sterile. That being said, I wouldn't rely on it as a form of contraception if you're engaging in any potentially baby-making activities. I also was urged to bank sperm if I ever wanted to have biological children, and I went through that process before going to my first Endo appointment. I'd strongly suggest it, if you can. Thankfully, my health insurance covered the cost. I'd hate to get several years down the road, want to have biological children, and find out I couldn't.

Does anyone know what type of HRT I can take as a MTF if I want to retain fertility ?

Quote from: annemarie on July 04, 2017, 10:35:37 AM
Does anyone know what type of HRT I can take as a MTF if I want to retain fertility ?

If you want a sure thing, you can't take anything. It would be best for you to consider freezing the little swimmers before starting HRT so you have a fall back position. The blocker is the most powerful of the drugs but even estrogen in some people and in sufficiently high levels can reduce fertility.

Quote from: Dena on July 04, 2017, 12:37:08 PM
If you want a sure thing, you can't take anything. It would be best for you to consider freezing the little swimmers before starting HRT so you have a fall back position. The blocker is the most powerful of the drugs but even estrogen in some people and in sufficiently high levels can reduce fertility.

Thank you for your reply,

So I cannot take anything at all? Even if I just stuck to finasteride (which I'm planning to take for hair loss) and progesterone for breast growth?

You will certainly not get much from a combination of finasteride + progesterone. The key player is estrogen and progesterone is significantly more effective with estrogen in the mix as estrogen increases tissue sensitivity to progesterone.

Finasteride will reduce DHT and is used in men so if it were potentially a feminizing agent, it wouldn't be taken by men. It might reduce libido, erectile capacity and help with arresting scalp hair loss but that's probably all that's gonna happen. Gynecomastia and reduced spermatogenesis are very rare occurrences and if these happen, your fertility is probably reduced too.

At high doses of progesterone, T can be lowered but this can compromise fertility so...