| How Female Hormones Alter Men QUESTION: I'm an 18-year-old male and I have been cross-dressing for the past eight years. When I was 10, I began to wear girls underwear. When I was 15, I started dressing up to look completely like a girl. I even shaved my legs, so when I dressed up my legs would look nice. My mother found out about this when I was 16, and it didn't bother her. Since she knew and didn't mind, I wore my sister's clothes and makeup around the house. I have gone to bars dressed as a woman to try to get picked up by a guy. (I'm not gay.) I want to have a sex change operation, but I have to save up money to get it done. How much does a sex change operation cost, and how is it done? What will female hormones do to me? Will they give me a figure like a woman, and breasts, and the facial features of a woman? What would happen to my penis? Will it shrink? Will I have erections? What other changes might I have? ANSWER:
You asked a lot of questions about sex change operations and hormones. First, genital reassignment surgery (often referred to as a "sex change operation") is the LAST of a lengthy process which takes a minimum of a year and often much longer. During that time, a person lives full time in the gender that s/he would like to be (this means working, dating, etc.). While this is going on, the person is under the care of a series of specialists -- an endocrinologist, a therapist, a doctor, and so on -- all of whom are assuring that the person is getting the support needed to make this significant change in their life. Changes With Hormones In your case, female hormones would be prescribed.
These hormones are not magic and, in fact, can have
serious side effects. The most probable effect would be
that your breasts would enlarge and your male muscle tone
would diminish. Your body would take on more female
proportions. Hormones will not change your facial
structure appreciably, nor will they cause your beard to
stop If Surgery Is Recommended If, at the end of this trial period, the professionals in charge of your case feel that you can benefit from the genital reassignment surgery, they will recommend a surgeon to perform the operation. Such operations cost from $5,000 to $10,000 and may not be covered by medical insurance. Often the surgeon wants the fee before the operation. In addition, will do extensive psychologcal testing and counseling before even recommending that you begin hormore treatment and electrolysis. If reassignment seems to be the proper course of action, you will have to begin living full-time as a woman, care (which could easily cost over $20,000 altogether) is excessive, all of it is in your best interests. To try short-cuts could result in your having surgery before you were ready, which could be a serious and irreversible mistake. Obviously, if your penis and testicles are removed, there is no way to restore them. From: CompuServe |