YMMV

[Guest KimberlyF]

It is possible to transition and not look much different, or look like a sibling, or look almost like a totally different person like my friend who said I could post these.

Before

after

[JJ]

Wow.!

It seems to me that in all the pics I have ever seen there is an enormous difference and it starts in the eyes because in the after pics that haunted look that is always there, even when we are smiling our best smile, is gone.

This change is remarkable. And while not chronologically challenged like me not a young kid either but an adult.

Thanks Kim

[Guest John Chiv]

Thank you for posting this Kimberly.

John

[Guest Amanda Whyte]

Thank you very much for sharing. Before and after pics are always inspiring to those of us just starting this journey.

[VickySGV]

I fully agree with Johnny on the ONE similarity in the before and after pics I have seen. All of the AFTER pictures show a more serene and happy person. Some of them will be very pretty (MtF) or extremely handsom (FtM), most will be highly ordinary people in the gender of comfort, but all (even the very plain folks) have an air of self acceptance that is un mistakeable.

[Guest Karen K]

I agree with all of the above.

Thanks for posting.

Laura Jane

[Drea]

Seems to me it would be pretty hard to tell any difference in the eyes on a comparison like this. The before picture is evidently from an official document so I don't know that anything can be concluded from facial expressions there.

I'll admit, that's a pretty drastic difference. You wouldn't think they were the same people.

I appreciate you not saying that is all hormones Kimberly as so many do when comparing the before and after pictures. I guess one could wonder too if FFS was involved.

[Guest Donna Jean]

.

Hummmmmm....I wonder if they just wished really hard!

Donna Jean Edwards

[Guest eliza.d]

thats amazing! ive seen some dramatic transformations, but usually ffs is involved.

but what a beautiful woman she became, truly amazing.

definately true about the sense of well being in after pics. ive seen it many times in other comparisons.

amazing...really amazing,

Eliza D

[Guest Shari]

The pictures are amazing and I've noticed that empty look in other's pictures. We work with what we have and I think if we take care of ourselves we will emerge as all we can be. And therein lies the real beauty.

Shari

[Guest eliza.d]

very well said shari, you should make that last line a quote in your signature.

very true indeed,

Eliza

[Guest NatashaJade]

I'm not that big a fan of before and after photos. To be fair, I've posted a couple of before pictures of myself on Laura's and then removed them. Ultimately, it is who I am now that matters and how I looked before is not an issue, even if it can provide others with a sense of what transition can do. Plus, there are any number of pictures of me from before where I looked quite happy and, even to some accounts, good looking (ask Marni). The pics above are unfair to the person being shown because they are so extreme, really. I'd like to see a better point of comparison.

Remember, folks. There are no guaranteed outcomes. As the title of this post says, your mileage may vary.

xoxo

[Guest eliza.d]

no one will ever see a picture of my looking like a man on here. ive destroyed them all....just kidding, lol!

some of you who have gotten to know me pretty well......you know bullettrain, might have expected that of me hehehe,

but know honestly, i never liked any pics of me pretending to be a man. i felt awful, and looked that way too.

i hope you all dont mind me poking fun at myself with the bullet train thing. somehow, i find it humorous.

love yall, Eliza

[Guest chngnwnd]

The haunted look never really registered with me before - now that it has been pointed out explicitly, I see that even in my own photos. Remarkable and interesting how consistent it is.

Bobbi

[JJ]

It first struck me when I was looking at pictures decades old all the way up to the most recent before I transitioned. There was a look no matter the pose or the event. It was there even at my happiest and I began to notice it in the before pictures of others that I saw. Even smiling and laughing.

I don't have it anymore. I think others sense it too and don't know what they are seeing but it contributes to the acceptance and the phenomena some of us experience of being more accepted by people after we begin to transition than ever before.

And as an artist I CAN see expressions in eyes even from a distance. Has to do with the muscles around the eyes and in the face-they all contribute to what we think of as an expression in the eyes. Reading expressions and observation of details like the facial proportions-and there are always expressions no matter the circumstances-is part of the skill set of a trained artist and a trained social worker so in a way my training in my two professions overlap. I do understand Drea that without that experience and training it might be difficult for some to see.

Johnny

Johnny

[Guest eliza.d]

johnny, once again you have given a statement of truth. the happiness we attain through coming out, hrt, full time, transition is very noticeable. ive seen it in all before and after pics, and i see that deep sadness in all of my pictures from about age 3 until i did what i had to do. im not an artist, lord knows, i can hardly apply makeup properly...im no Rembrandt, but i have always been very good at reading people and imho, looking into their soul. the eyes are the window, but body language is also telling.

the majority of my college classes were in psychology, so coupled with me intuition, which is off the chart now that i have started hrt, gone full time, began to transition, and take my life back....my psychoanalytical perception is in full swing.

i feel like i can almost read the emotions and unspoken words even of passers by out here in the world.

very strange, amazing, and wonderful how we develope.

btw, dont be shocked by all the complimets we give you brother, you deserve them, have earned them and they are the truth.

believe it.

Hugs,

Eliza

[Guest Donna Jean]

.

Back then, not only did I have a hollow look, but, I was hollow inside......

All different now...

Dee Jay

[Guest eliza.d]

exactly the same for me dee jay, and good point about being hollow inside.

very true indeed.

Eliza

[Guest KimberlyF]

My friend has not had any FFS and the first was a Gov photo. This talk of soulless eyes almost sounds like it would make a great gameshow. Can you tell who is TS by the photos?

I'm not that big a fan of before and after photos. To be fair, I've posted a couple of before pictures of myself on Laura's and then removed them. Ultimately, it is who I am now that matters and how I looked before is not an issue, even if it can provide others with a sense of what transition can do. Plus, there are any number of pictures of me from before where I looked quite happy and, even to some accounts, good looking (ask Marni). The pics above are unfair to the person being shown because they are so extreme, really. I'd like to see a better point of comparison.

Remember, folks. There are no guaranteed outcomes. As the title of this post says, your mileage may vary

xoxo

I don't understand this post and what you mean by unfair? They're only a couple of years apart.

Are theses pics also unfair to the subject?

Edited January 6, 2012 by KimberlyF
Pictures edited out. The owner did not give approval for them to be reposted

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Happiness and Sadness - you think? Two snapshots - no 'official document' photos here:

Now.............................Before............................

Lizzie

[Drea]

It doesn't suprise me that people will read into a picture what they want to believe or need to believe. Yeah, expressions can be seen in the eyes, but in the after picture that Kimberly posted they are so small and furhter obsured by glasses. One can see the smile on the face and make assumptions, but assumptions are just that.

In any case that is pretty dramatic. It isn't a good A-B comparison and a clearer after picture would be good, but I think it demonstrates what was intended. No FFS, just a couple years...

I have seen many make dramatic changes. Such doesn't occur soley from hormones. There are many aspects to presentation and it takes some work. In my opion, the good news is that striking results are possible in most instances without surgery or some magical effects from hormones.

We do tend to have our imperfections but knowing how to manage them makes a huge difference.

[Guest eliza.d]

good post drea, that makes me excited to see what hrt will make of me. ive only been on hrt now for ten days, but its been the best ten days ever, honestly really. and being full time makes it all worthwhile imho, to me.

Thanks,

Eliza

[Drea]

good post drea, that makes me excited to see what hrt will make of me. ive only been on hrt now for ten days, but its been the best ten days ever, honestly really. and being full time makes it all worthwhile imho, to me.

Thank you. I think the thrust of what I try to say is that it will be what you make of it. Hormones will have their effect for sure, and the good thing about hormones will do that they do since we are on them for a long time. Beyond that it is up to us to do the other things such as hair style, electro to remove facial hair, makeup (if needed), voice, etc. All these things become part of presentation. No amount of hormones are going to make one automatically and unquestionably passable if we don't pay attention to those other aspects.

[Guest Donna Jean]

good post drea, that makes me excited to see what hrt will make of me. ive only been on hrt now for ten days, but its been the best ten days ever, honestly really. and being full time makes it all worthwhile imho, to me.

Thank you. I think the thrust of what I try to say is that it will be what you make of it. Hormones will have their effect for sure, and the good thing about hormones will do that they do since we are on them for a long time. Beyond that it is up to us to do the other things such as hair style, electro to remove facial hair, makeup (if needed), voice, etc. All these things become part of presentation. No amount of hormones are going to make one automatically and unquestionably passable if we don't pay attention to those other aspects.

LOL.....I just erased my post that I was working on because I just saw you post exactly what I was typing!

No, it's way more than just taking hormones! If it were that simple, we'd all just take those pills and sit back and wait....

It takes effort to re-invent ourselves!

Huggs

Dee Jay

[JJ]

If hormones didn't have great effects for most of us we wouldn't sacrifice and jump through the hoops we do. I know in my case the difference has been vast-normally when someone my age loses weight-even 20 or 30 lbs they look like a candle too long in the sun. Yet I have definition and a masculinization I never dreamed possible after more than 160lbs. That won't bring out angles and plains when you no longer have skin elasticity-it makes you look blurred. T also gave me the ability to move and exercise again

BUT by itself it would have deepened my voice and caused some gair to grow on my body. I had to exercise and take advantage of what it made possible. It you sit and expect it to do the work you will be sadly disappointed.

It also had subtle yet amazing effecys on me mentally. Made me feel right for the first time ever. A phoenomena pronounced enough that it is beginning to be used as a diagnostic tool.

HRT in it's turn softens and rounds and adds breasts. That is important and signigicant. If you don't let your body gain that needed layer of fat then you aren't going top get much either.

But neither T nor HRT are more than a tool. You have to use the tool. You have to do the work and take advantage of what those powerful substances can do. A lot of the time what you need to do is learn to get out of you own way and let instinct and lessons observed unaware take over. Some things have to be learned. I'm finding more need to be unlearned.

And actually both artists and social workers are trained to see what is and not what they want to see. Difficult to explain unless you have had the training but a training that never leaves you. An attention to tiny details is just a part of it. Sometimes it is a painful thing and sometimes a blessing

Johnny