I've covered this a little bit before, but in this article I am going in depth on what HRT is supposed to do. I also plan to pair this article with an article about the unintended, side effects of hormones, and one about what hormones aren't going to do. Having said that, let's move on to what hormones are supposed to do.
On to the physical changes, which I'm sure you're more interested in. A big one is in the muscles. For transgirls, your muscles will atrophy, or in other words slowly go away. If that displeases you, you might want to consider exercise. For transguys, expect the opposite to happen, and with proper diet and exercise, you can acquire manly muscles.
Another big physical change for trans girls is breast growth! Hooray! Yes, this is one that most trans girls look forward to when taking hormones. This one is very age dependent. The earlier you start, the more of an effect there will be. Those who start especially young may even end up with fully developed breasts, but those who start later in life (read: 30+) may receive little to nothing. Another big factor is genetics. You're liable to have one cup size less than your family, on average. This isn't always the case, but as a general rule it holds.
Fat redistribution is another big one that affects both genders. This is that one that makes people look subtly male or female. It's the body shape, and a little bit of the facial shape. It can take a while to fully take effect, but it can also mean all the difference in the world. This, however, is also up to the whim of genetics. Maybe you'll get the figure you're hoping for, but maybe not.
The last of the big physical changes is in body hair. Transguys will get body hair, and transgirls will experience a thinning of body hair and a stopping of male pattern baldness. Personally, the hair on my head has always been thick, so the second part doesn't mean much to me, but my body hair makes me rather dysphoric, so, yay!
I've saved one of the biggest effects for last. The change in the way we think is often overlooked, and many transgender folk are very surprised upon beginning hormones how much their thought process changes. I personally knew it would happen, and yet was still surprised. Just the other day I was watching a TV show and I legitimately started bawling. Granted it was a sad scene but nonetheless, I generally did not do this before.
The thing I'd like to stress when talking about that is that because of this, many trans girls think that 30 or even 25 is "too late" to start hormones. Ridiculous. There are a wide variety of effects that have nothing to do with breast development. If it's breasts you're concerned with, there's surgery to help with that, but don't let thinking that you're not going to get any be a deterrent from taking hormones.
One last thing before I end the post, and I'm putting it here because for some it's a reason to go on HRT, is that transgirls usually lose the ability to ejaculate. This happens to varying degrees, but there it is.
So, that's it! The wonderful world of the changes brought on by hormones. Hopefully this resource has been useful to you, and if there are any effects that I've missed and you think I should include, feel free to email me or leave a message in the comments and I'll edit the article.
Check out more articles at [http://www.transhormones.com/], where the author of this article, Sarah McAtee, writes about hormones and hormone replacement therapy for transgender and trans* people.
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