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TRANSGENDERCARE MEDICAL FEMINIZING PROGRAM CONTENTS

• About : About the TransGenderCare Medical Feminizing Program. • Introduction : Introduction to our Medical Feminizing Program. • Regimens : TransGenderCare's specific regimens and dosing tables. • Section 1 : The Biochemistry of Gender. • Section 2 : The Hormonal System.  • Section 3 : The Biochemistry of Sex Hormones. • Section 4 : The Feminization Regimen. • Section 5 : A Look at Medications. • Section 6 : Typical Results of male-to-female hormonal therapy. • Section 7 : Measuring Your Transition — recording body size measurements during transition. • Section 8 : Male Genital Anatomy — a summary review of external and internal anatomy.  CLICK ON AN ITEM, ABOVE, TO GO TO THAT TOPIC

	INTRODUCTION

Page:

About  Intro Regimens 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Introduction to  the TransGenderCare
Medical Feminizing Program

The information contained in the TransGenderCare Medical Feminizing Program Guide is directed toward the male to female transgendered individual. As a consumer (or potential consumer) of transgender medical services, this Program Guide is published with the intent to better educate and inform, and should be considered as a general reference and adjunct to your primary physician's medical care.

The TransGenderCare Medical Feminizing Program Guide is chiefly based upon the many years of experience gained through the development of the tried and true regimens of the Tampa Gender Identity Program. General insight that we have gleaned from the observation of fellow transgender medical providers is also incorporated into the Program Guide.

Additionally, our Medical Feminizing Program incorporates a compilation of medical data generally seen as significant to transgender medical providers, along with general introductory terms and descriptions in the fields of general medicine and endocrinology (study of glands and hormones of the body).

Before You Start

Most individuals undertaking hormonal gender reassignment (hormone therapy) can use a hormonal regimen with a high degree of safety, provided that they are adequately evaluated for hormonal use and monitored on a regular basis. This attitude will assure that your good health is maintained.

As you explore transgender medical therapies through the Internet and other avenues, you should be prepared to discover a wide range of conflicting information and misinformation on the subject. In order to clarify and simplify the many claims and counterclaims, information and misinformation, we have condensed our years of actively helping the transgender patient with medical/hormonal transition over generations of learning, improvement and change into the contents of this Program.

But before you begin, there are several important issues that will allow your journey to be a safe one. For the sake of brevity, the advice that follows takes the form of short list of do's and don'ts that will provide you with the best possible outcome:

• Do not take hormone medication prescribed for another individual.  We are each unique—what is good for one may not be for another.
  
  
• Do not rely on phytoestrogens (herbal hormones) and varying extracts as an appropriate feminizing therapy. We have not observed any measurable feminization from these preparations. While nutrients and supplements do have a place as an adjunct to healthy living, use of these non-pharmaceutical grade phytoestrogen products, especially in large dose amounts, does raise health safety concerns amongst many medical professionals.  And when herbal preparations are used along with pharmaceutical hormones, your overall feminization may be reduced as these preparations compete with the pharmaceuticals.
  
  
• If purchasing medication through mail order and Internet businesses,  deal with a known and reputable supplier.  Do not overlook the necessary blood monitoring and medical oversight. Proper medical management not only avoids unnecessary health risks, but assures that you are sufficiently feminizing. It is not uncommon for individuals who self-medicate to be on a less than adequate regime.
  
  
• Follow instructions. Do not adjust your dosage unless you have been advised by your physician. Take your dosing regimen seriously; arbitrarily increasing dosing may put you at risk, and as well, forgetting to take prescribed dosing may slow your progress.
  
  
• All regimens are not equal.  Over the years, we have observed that as many as 4 out of 5 persons taking feminizing hormones are on an inadequate and/or harmful regimen. These poor results are often attributed by patients as being their fault and consequently settle for less than optimal feminization and/or harmful side effects.
  
  
• Don't settle for less with regard to your health care.  You may come into contact with authority figures on the Internet who casually, and wrongly, suggest medical monitoring is unnecessary. We would be surprised if anyone providing this advice, outside of the uninformed or self-destructive, would themselves sacrifice the necessary physical monitoring that safeguards one's health and provides for the most effective feminization possible.
  
  
• If you decide to manage your our feminizing therapies, at the very least, seek periodic check-ups at a local walk-in clinic.
  
  
• If you decide to undergo hormone treatment, think through your options and desires for having children as prolonged hormone therapy will likely render you irreversibly sterile—and castration will certainly render you irreversibly sterile.  Sperm banking is an option to protect the future opportunity to have children, however sperm banking can be expensive and there is no complete assurance that you will be able to reproduce.
  

Much of what we will be examining in our brief look into hormonal feminization is the subject of endocrinology, a specialized branch of internal medicine which is concerned with the study of the glands and hormones of the body and their related disorders.

The goal of feminizing hormone therapy, carried to its fullest extent, is the hormonal gender reassignment of the individual. Given the proper regimen and sufficient time, the likely expectation is a profound and comprehensive change in gender appearance.

This feminizing process concentrates on manipulation of sex hormones, also called sex steroids; and as the process of hormonal gender reassignment involves profound biological changes as well as changes in one's appearance, having a general understanding of the biochemistry of sex hormones makes sense. We will later look at some of the physiology, or function, of the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and following, the equally important category of anti-androgens. 

First, a look at some medical regimens.

Information provided and accessed through TransGenderCare.com is presented in a summary form and should not be used as a substitute for a consultation or visit with a physician, psychologist, electrologist or other health care provider. (See Terms & Conditions.) 

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