Hormone treatment is generally very safe, but there are some side effects that you should be aware of and that will be explained to you at the time of prescribing. By sharing the knowledge of some of the possible negative side effects I hope this will allow us to be in a more informed place to know how to look after ourselves and advocate for help and extra monitoring from our GP when we need it.

 

The good news is that transgender men and transmasculine people treated with testosterone have the same life expectancy as the general  population, telling us that this is a very safe treatment even if it is taken over many years

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Some of the changes in the body produced by testosterone are reversible if you stop treatment but many  are permanent, including your voice breaking, hair loss from your head and increased facial hair. It is  therefore important to be sure that hormone treatment is the right option for you before it is started.
 

If you ultimately decide to have your ovaries removed (which can happen both as a part of genital reconstruction surgery or separately from it) then this would mean that, even if you stopped testosterone, your body would produce very little oestrogen.

 

Therefore testosterone treatment would need to be 
continued to prevent the complications of having no sex hormone production, such as osteoporosis (brittle bones) or early heart disease.

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