Hormone Replacement Therapy (male-to-female)

Hormone Replacement Therapy (male-to-female)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for transgender and transsexual people changes the balance of sex hormones in their bodies. Some intersex people also receive HRT, either starting in childhood to confirm the sex to which they were assigned, or later, if this assignment has proven to be incorrect.

Its purpose is to cause the development of the secondary sex characteristics of the desired sex. It cannot undo many of the changes produced by the first natural occurring puberty, which may necessitate surgery and/or epilation (see below). The effects of hormonal therapy are often much more satisfying to trans men than trans women, as it is easier to produce secondary male sexual characteristics with androgens than it is to rid trans women of those established characteristics.