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+--- Thread: Testosterone Necessary? (/t-testosterone-necessary)
Testosterone Necessary? - jrm42 - 04-27-2022
I am a 45yr old non-binary (born female). I am seriously considering a simple metoidioplasty procedure to allow myself to physically present the both male/female anatomy to be inline with what my brain has been telling me my whole life. I am missing a part of my anatomy - so much so that at times I feel a ghost limb if you will (or ghost penis in this case).
I'm not necessarily looking to become fully masculine, I'm already pretty on the border. My body may have forgotten to give me my micro-penis but it sure as hell didn't forget to give me a beard/mustache. I don't want to exaggerate what is already pretty masculine on my body - I'm a pretty hairy tomboy physically with ungodly sensitive skin and shaving is already torture enough when I choose to go smooth skin.
In researching (for what has been a few years now) I came to find metoidioplasty as an option for my goal vs. just the pumping I've been doing to increase the size of my clitoris. The issue is that it requires testosterone and after reading a whole plethora of information on what that would do over the 1-2yrs required for this procedure; I don't want those side affects just for this as it would no longer truly reflect my non-binary self or the way I see myself as both male/female with no specific "attachment" to either side.
I guess my inquiry here is to find out if this is a viable option for my goal or if there is some other option out there that I just have not run across just yet.
Any thoughts/experiences/information would be greatly appreciated. I'm so close to making this decision but am scared and unsure at this point.
Thanks!
jrm
RE: Testosterone Necessary? - Joshua - 04-27-2022
Great topic. I think the answer will depend on the details of what you would like Metoidioplasty to do for you. You mentioned it as something in addition to pumping to increase size. There's some debate about this: Dr. Miro used to say that Metoidioplasty increases size by 50%, and I haven't heard him walk that back, but the general consensus is that surgery doesn't increase size, just better exposes what is there (and maybe that's what Dr. Miro means.) It may depend on whether or not the suspensory ligament is cut--not all surgeons do this.
Also, testosterone does not necessarily cause permanent growth, so if someone goes on T to get growth and Meta with the plan of going off T in the future, they should be prepared to lose length, even after surgery. Almost every bit of documentation out there says the growth is permanent but this isn't always true. (I know from experience and I was surprised because it was the opposite of everything I'd ever read about the effects of T.)
There are certainly lots of non-binary people who opt for Simple Metoidioplasty and I'm sure many of them are quite satisfied. But if your goal is increased size without Testosterone, you may be disappointed with results, unless you're already generously sized.
Ultimately, a consultation with a surgeon who is experienced at working with non-binary individuals would be a good idea so that you can get a more accurate assessment of whether or not surgery would satisfy your goals.
Wish I had a more specific answer for you but I hope this helps!
RE: Testosterone Necessary? - jrm42 - 04-29-2022
(04-27-2022, 08:24 PM)Joshua Wrote: Great topic. I think the answer will depend on the details of what you would like Metoidioplasty to do for you. You mentioned it as something in addition to pumping to increase size. There's some debate about this: Dr. Miro used to say that Metoidioplasty increases size by 50%, and I haven't heard him walk that back, but the general consensus is that surgery doesn't increase size, just better exposes what is there (and maybe that's what Dr. Miro means.) It may depend on whether or not the suspensory ligament is cut--not all surgeons do this.
Also, testosterone does not necessarily cause permanent growth, so if someone goes on T to get growth and Meta with the plan of going off T in the future, they should be prepared to lose length, even after surgery. Almost every bit of documentation out there says the growth is permanent but this isn't always true. (I know from experience and I was surprised because it was the opposite of everything I'd ever read about the effects of T.)
There are certainly lots of non-binary people who opt for Simple Metoidioplasty and I'm sure many of them are quite satisfied. But if your goal is increased size without Testosterone, you may be disappointed with results, unless you're already generously sized.
Ultimately, a consultation with a surgeon who is experienced at working with non-binary individuals would be a good idea so that you can get a more accurate assessment of whether or not surgery would satisfy your goals.
Wish I had a more specific answer for you but I hope this helps!
Thank you - its a yes/no kinda helpful. I am lucky in that I am located in Houston and one of the only doctors in the country, Dr Daniel Freet, specializes and provides options for Non-Binary individuals. I'm going to get a consultation with him because I'm so discombobulated on a solution here. I do know, I HAVE to figure something out. When I realized T was required for the Meta (I do have a pretty pronounced clitoris at almost an inch) and the other option was vaginal preserving Phalloplasty I just completely deflated and was way more upset/depressed with the thought that there's nothing anyone can do. I've read so many great reviews about this Doctor so I'm hoping he has some feasible answers.
RE: Testosterone Necessary? - Joshua - 04-29-2022
It's hard when available options don't line up with exactly what we need! Having a consultation will probably clarify some things for you. In fact, you may also find that having consultations with a few different surgeons presents ideas that hadn't come to you yet. It took me YEARS to figure out what the best approach for me was, and even afterwards I found that that solution still didn't totally match up with what I was hoping for. I've found surgery to be a bit of an exercise in compromise. And acceptance.