Getting Started¶
Resource focus: passability
This site is curated toward improving passability — what works for blending in, what doesn't, the practical mechanics of transition. If you're looking for affirmation regardless of outcome, this isn't that.
This is not a hugbox
We don't mean you harm. But transition is difficult, and we won't soften facts to spare feelings. The information here is what it is — you decide what to do with it.
Welcome. This site is a working reference for the /mtfg/ community — covering feminizing HRT, body composition, voice, presentation, surgical options, and the practical scaffolding around them (testing, injections, providers, sources). It's organized as something you'll come back to and look up specific things in, not a one-time read.
What this site is: a community-organized knowledge base citing peer-reviewed and clinical sources where possible, plus established community practice where research is thin.
What this site is not: medical advice, a substitute for a provider, or a recommendation about whether to transition or how. Decisions about your body are yours; this site exists to help you make them informed.
About the information here
Information ages. Doses, guidelines, drug availability, and legal landscapes shift. Pages cite their sources so you can verify and check for updates. The site is community-organized — not produced or vetted by any clinical authority.
A few things to know up front¶
The non-obvious framings that prevent the most common confusion:
- HRT changes are slow. The biggest shifts in body composition unfold over 2–5 years, not weeks. Most people quit early because they're judging at month 4 — when the curve hasn't risen yet. See Physical Transition → realistic timeline.
- Lab values are not universal numbers. Each lab calibrates its own assay, so 100 pg/mL at one lab isn't the same as 100 pg/mL at another. Always interpret your result against the reference range printed on your report. See Hormone Levels.
- Find a provider if you can. Informed-consent telehealth (Plume, FOLX, QueerDoc, GenderGP) has made trans-friendly providers more accessible than they were even five years ago. DIY exists as a fallback when access is blocked, but having labs and prescriptions through a provider is safer.
- The Endocrine Society 2017 guideline is the most cited source on this site, but it's not the only word. Newer evidence (e.g., 2024–2025 systematic reviews on injectable estradiol dosing, current research on the DHT backdoor pathway) is integrated where relevant.
- DIY doesn't mean unsupervised. If you're sourcing your own HRT, monitoring labs is more important, not less. The Blood Draws page covers direct-to-consumer lab options that don't require a provider.
Where to start¶
Pick the row that fits where you are right now:
| If you are… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Questioning or pre-HRT | Physical Transition → overview, Drugs → estrogens, Drugs → anti-androgens — to understand what HRT actually does |
| Just started HRT (first 6 months) | Hormone Levels and Blood Draws — establish baseline and learn what to monitor |
| On HRT for 6+ months | Physical Transition for realistic expectations, Voice Training if you haven't started, the per-drug pages for any drug you take |
| Considering or starting injections | Injections: How To — full procedural guide |
| DIY-curious or sourcing your own meds | Drugs for what you're taking, Injections if applicable, Blood Draws for monitoring without a provider |
| Considering surgery (FFS / SRS / VFS) | Surgery → FFS, SRS, VFS — landing pages for each |
| Wanting to work on voice | Voice Training → overview — and try one Week 1 day before committing to the full plan |
| Working on presentation / passability | Presentation → overview — skin, hair, makeup, and fashion; start with Hair Removal if you haven't (long lead times) |
| Looking up a specific term, drug, or value | Use the search bar (top right) or the left-hand nav directly |
What's on this site¶
| Section | Covers |
|---|---|
| HRT → Levels | Hormone reference ranges + MtF target levels; how, when, and where to get bloods drawn |
| HRT → Drugs | The four drug tiers — estrogens, anti-androgens, progestogens, GnRH agonists — with comparison tables and per-drug detail |
| HRT → Injections | Full procedural guide for IM and SubQ self-injection |
| Physical Transition | What HRT does (and doesn't) to body composition, realistic timelines, where diet & exercise fit |
| Voice Training | Overview, exercise library, practice sentence reference, structured 8-week plan |
| Presentation | Skin, hair, hair removal, makeup (beard shadow, eyebrows, eyes, blush, lipstick), and fashion (fit, sizing, bra fitting, outfit guidance) |
| Surgery | Landing pages for FFS, SRS, and VFS — what each is, common procedures, costs, recovery, what to research |
| Resources | Curated guidelines, drug databases, lab services by region, DIY directories, community sites, tools |
Safety & when to seek help¶
The risks of feminizing HRT are real but generally manageable. The serious ones to know:
Symptoms that warrant immediate medical attention:
- Possible blood clot — sudden leg pain or swelling (especially calf), chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, severe headache, vision changes, weakness on one side. Estrogen elevates clotting risk; oral estradiol more than transdermal or injectable. Don't wait to see if it resolves.
- Severe allergic reaction — hives, swelling of face/lips/throat, difficulty breathing. Common after a new injectable lot or new oral medication.
- Severe mental-health crisis — HRT can shift mood significantly in either direction. If you're having thoughts of self-harm, contact a crisis line (988 in the US; 116 123 in the UK; international list at findahelpline.com). Don't ride it out alone.
Worth flagging to a provider but not emergency:
- Unexpectedly persistent breast or nipple pain or discharge (prolactin elevation, especially on cyproterone)
- Persistent depression or anxiety over weeks
- Unusual bleeding, bruising, or fatigue (lipid, hematology, or hepatic changes)
- Lab values consistently far outside target ranges despite consistent dosing
Finding a provider:
If you don't have one, US informed-consent telehealth options include Plume, FOLX, QueerDoc, and Folx. UK options include GenderGP. Country-specific resources are listed on the Resources page. Even if you're sourcing your own HRT, periodic lab work and an annual provider visit catches problems before they become serious.
About this site¶
- Organization: Community-organized for /mtfg/. Pages cite peer-reviewed sources, clinical guidelines (Endocrine Society 2017 most often), and established community practice where research is thin or absent.
- Sources: Each page lists its sources at the bottom. Where claims are debated or evidence is weak, that's flagged in the text rather than glossed over.
- Hosting: The site is fully self-contained — no Google Fonts, no analytics, no external CDN dependencies. The static build can be hosted on any plain web host, IPFS, or a Tor onion service for resilience against takedowns.
- Theme: The visual style derives from a community-shared color palette in keeping with the broader /mtfg/ aesthetic (synthwave purples and pinks on a dark background).
- Limits: This site doesn't cover everything. Topics intentionally not in scope include trans men's care (FtM HRT, top surgery, etc.), legal name and gender marker changes (varies wildly by jurisdiction), and detailed surgeon recommendations (anatomy- and budget-specific; better sourced from current community word-of-mouth).
The best use of this site: read the section relevant to a question you have right now, follow the source links if you want to dig deeper, and come back next time you have a different question.