If You Only Had One Choice...

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Folks, [Trans gals & guys]

If, you were given the choice of either HRT on it's own, or surgery[boobs + genitals + facial ] Which would you choose???

Where do your priorities lie???

This should be interesting …

"If you want to experience fulfilment in your life, learn to spend more time wanting what you 'already' have, and spend less time wanting what you don't have!"…

Just in case I've buggered up this poll, Remember just the one vote folks..

Metta Zenda

[JenniferB]

Good question. I would take them in order. Since HRT is the first step, I would rather have that than any surgery. It is very possible that will the only thing that can happen for the rest of my life. The surgeries require a lot of money (even with insurance) and may not be possible. Still if it is only HRT I would be happy.

Jenny

[JJ]

Without hormones surgery would just leave me looking odd I think. Just my personal opinion. I know I would never be happy with my voice or fat distribution. I want the curves gone.

I also think the hormones that are right for my brain feel more right than any surgery could ever make me feel. Not that I don't want top surgery badly but I want T more.

[Guest Donna Jean]

.

Well, thanks a lot, Zenda.....

That's like asking "Yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife?"

I'd go for the HRT...I'm 60 and I just want to feel as good as possible about how I am and the HRT would accomplish that, I think....

*sigh* ...now my brain hurts....

Donna Jean

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora,

It looks like I've buggered :blush: it up again...

Could a kind mod please add N/A to the "I would have surgery!" options list...It was meant to be "what would you choose if you had the option of either surgery 'only' or HRT only?"

Cake's in the post

Metta Zenda

[Guest Emily Ray]

I fixed the poll for you. I would just have the HRT because of what E does for my mind. But I pass really well with just HRT and dont need any other kind of surgery to get treated like a girl

Huggs

Emily

[Sally]

I agreed with the others - surgery does not do for you all that HRT will - the surgery is not much of a choice without all of the goodies that HRT bring.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Emily Ray,

Thanks for that...The cake's in the post...I promise

Kia Ora All,

It's possible some people for health reasons can't take HRT and others might not be able[again for Health reasons]to undergo any surgery...

However this poll/topic is hypothetical in nature=A What if???...

Metta Zenda

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Against the grain here I suppose. I want to be complete.

Lizzy

[Guest Jenth]

I would go for HRT because I wouldn't want the natural male hormones causing more problems than they already have. With HRT giving more feminine features (like breasts) I could be me and act as me without the bottom surgery (I think) and since I would have the top because of the HRT I wouldn't need that. I could live with being an ugly or plain girl. But if the male hormones continued to rage I'd go bald up top and probably grow hair on my back which would be a pain to shave.

Though a very good question

Heathy

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Jenth,

Depending on ones age, if they were to have genital surgery[without HRT] at a youngish age, this could also prevent baldness and lessen the masculine effects of testosterone...

Metta Zenda

[Guest Lacey Lynne]

Good question. I would take them in order. Since HRT is the first step, I would rather have that than any surgery. It is very possible that will the only thing that can happen for the rest of my life. The surgeries require a lot of money (even with insurance) and may not be possible. Still if it is only HRT I would be happy.

Jenny

Folks, I'm on board with Jenny as above and we Dee Jay as above.

My unpopular opinion is that surgery in the final analysis is mere cosmetic albeit most pleasingly so. However, unless HRT first "works its magic" somamorphing us to our desired target gender, the surgery will merely make us look very freaky. IMHO.

The hormone replacement therapy is The Real Deal which affects and effects us at the microcellular level and most profoundly so. You'd be amazed at the sriking changes HRT has made in me, and mind you, I'm significantly older, have not done any hair removal whatsoever yet (plan to start within a week or so though) and have had no surgery of any kind.

Hence, sans surgery, I could actually majorly pass if only I made a real effort to do so which I will do relatively soon. Thing is that I'm having a stone-cold blast being an androgyne and blowing people's minds thereby. Dang, of all the transsexuals I've ever read about, the two I want to REALLY meet are transguy Jamison Green and transgal Kate Bornstein. Jamison is so convincing and so cool as a guy that I've just gotta meet him inasmuch as he has class and brains. Gotta admire that bigtime. Kate Bornstein? Well, she's old now, but doggone, she's The Gender Outlaw who "road tripped" androgeny for a time before fully transitioning. She's such a trip that I sense a spiritual kinship with her.

Get this:

A T-girl I know on another forum is age 29, start HRT exactly 2 weeks (yep ... 14 days!) to the very day before I did. Like, so what? Well, ... in 3 weeks, she will have her GRS/SRS with MARCI BOWERS, M.D. ... and I haven't even gone fulltime yet!

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know ... alright, cool, fine. So I'm a gender slacker.

HRT, hon, HRT ... eight days a week.

Peace & HRT Lacey Lynne

[Carolyn Marie]

Kia Ora, Zenda.

It's pretty simple really. I don't need surgery to pass. The only one who ever needs to look down there is my doctor.

But without HRT, I wouldn't have my own natural boobs, plus all the other lovely physical effects, and I wouldn't have the

peace of mind in knowing that female, rather than male, hormones were coursing through my body and my mind.

It's a slam dunk!

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Lacey Lynne]

@ Zenda:

Hon, forgive my many stupid typos above. It's late, I'm tired and burned out. Yeah, I idiot out sometimes. No worries.

Girl, what I freakin' REALLY wish is that I could have started HRT like at age 10 or 11! Yeehaw! Need I say more?

Chances would've been good to have been a winsome wench!

Shameless! Yeah ... true ... okay. Wahoo!

Kia Ora, Zenda! Great topic! Lacey Lynne

[Guest Elizabeth K]

I don't care for my breasts and all the HRT effects, if I cannot be complete. I could pass without HRT, not as well, but I could do it.

Lizzy

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora,

And Thank you all you gentle trans-folk for those who have already participated and those who are about too...

Well it would seem I buggered up the poll settings bigtime, and its turned into a free for all voting...

But wait! I can see a pattern emerging, order forming in what at first could be seen as madness ...Some of you are voting like this "If I could 'only' have HRT I would!" [tick] "And if I could 'only' have surgery, this is what type of surgery I would have!"[tick]..Voting twice...

So because we all can identify who voted for what, all is well and going with the flow...Just as I plannedit! ;)

Lacey you say that you're tired, I have to get going back into the past to communicate with you all, so just imagine how weird it all is for me...[it's now around 8pm Saturday evening 5-3-11]

Metta Zenda

[Guest N. Jane]

Having been through the whole thing (a long time ago) I did not vote because, for me, they are not valid choices.

As a teen I was living part time en femme well before I could get HRT and "passed" better in girl mode than boy mode but being physically incomplete was pure hell because it severely limited my development (as in growing up). Long before SRS became possible, HRT became a sort of tranquillizer to keep me from going completely off the deep end and self-destructing. It helped but on its own it wasn't enough to stop me from becoming dangerously suicidal in my early 20's, before SRS became available. By the time SRS became available, IT was necessary for me to stay alive.

Post-SRS, HRT become critical for body health. Without any primary sex hormones, the body suffers. Osteoporosis is not just possible but virtually guaranteed without oestrogen or testosterone. HRT is a medical necessity!

I only ever had HRT and SRS but they were both necessary for life so I couldn't vote either one as being "expendable".

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Well, here I go with the unpopular vote.

I voted for 2 of the 3 surgeries, genital and breasts.

Here is my reasoning: HRT will only get you so far. SRS has more long-term applications. I may not be the most attractive woman out there, but legally and medically I'll be considered a woman. Eventually I'll find some guy who likes me and then if all goes well I'll be able to get married, maybe adopt a child or two and lead that proverbial straight life (house, white picket fence, 2.5 kids, etc..) I won't need a letter to use the ladies room. I won't have any issues using the women's locker room. I won't have any awkward and complicated explanations if things get serious with a guy.

Sure this could be accomplished with HRT only but there are more hurdles: legally, medically, culturally.

My face is my face. I was born with it. I've learned enough to where I can hide my flaws or cover up an unsightly hairline...just like many women in this world. Softer skin? Well my skin is soft as it is. Daily moisturizing can keep it that way. Any mental changes are just that...mental. I still contend that HRT doesn't affect you mentally and emotionally, only you can change that and the jury is still out if being on HRT makes you more emotional or the fact that you're taking estrogen simply allows you to be more open with your emotions and give you the freedom to express yourself more.

[~Nova~]

I haven't had either yet, so I opt for both. I'd like to see some changes with HRT, then complete the process with surgery.

At this point, it's not a merger of if, but when.

Shelly.

[Guest Zenda]

Post-SRS, HRT become critical for body health. Without any primary sex hormones, the body suffers. Osteoporosis is not just possible but virtually guaranteed without oestrogen or testosterone. HRT is a medical necessity!

Kia Ora Jane,

It an interesting point you've made...Throughout the ages males have been 'castrated' becoming 'Eunuch'or Castrados-= young boys who were selected and castrated by the Catholic church to 'preserve' their singing voice ...It's possible many would have also suffered with Osteoporosis...

Then there the Indian 'Hijras'=transsexual-[or 'impotent one' in Hindi] many are castrated at a young age and have no access to HRT...Osteoporosis must be running rampant amongst the Hijra community...

Metta Zenda

[Guest Orva26]

I went with HRT, why? Because I just don't want to age as male. I see older men and that is NOT what I want. Going the surgery route has actually been suggested to me in the past but the deal breaker is that even if I had the most prestigious surgeons on the planet and ended up absolutely gorgeous biochemically I wouldn't age as female without HRT.

Whereas if I only could get HRT, I would get physical feminization at a more base level.

[Guest Leigh]

for me, it would be impossible to pass without surgery... hormones, however i really only want for some hair growth and to lower my voice...

i'm ok with my voice as it is..it's definitely feminine, but i could pass with it how it is.

and if i shave, even without facial hair, it still looks like i've shaved, so... i might look 14 for the rest of my life, but at least i wouldn't have to bind for the rest of my life.

peace&love

[Guest ScifiComicDUDE]

HRT - Testestorone

i hate my semi-large chest and would do anything to get rid of it. But with only one choice I choose T anyday. Going on with life would be impossible for me without it. T for the win.

[Guest DésiréeG]

well, this is with hindsight now, but I said surgery - genital & breasts.

Hormones did very little for me physically. Passing had nothing to do with either. i was a woman before HRT and a woman after. Surgery is about being able to look in a mirror and see me.... the me I'm supposed to be It's about being able to please and be please by my wife in the way we both want. With surgery, testosterone is no longer an issue so half of HRT is taken care of anyway.