I've been told by my doctor that fat redistribution is one of the slower changes to happen, and also one of the last things to change after you stop HRT. It's not permanent sadly, but it can take a long time after stopping HRT for the fat redistribution to reverse.
this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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If you switched back to T after being on E for a couple years, your body would just begin to redistribute fat back in masculine patterns. Just as the fat distribution changed when you went on E, it would change again when you switch to T.
Maybe this isn't relevant to you, but I personally thought I didn't want any breasts before I transitioned, and when I started E I was really worried about whether my breasts would be too big, whether I would hate having breasts, etc. That worry melted away after a few months on E, and after 6 - 8 months my perspective was completely opposite of where I started, that I really wanted more breast growth and that they are one of the best parts of my feminine body.
I would guess if you want a feminine body you might also find that after some time you realize you actually like having breasts, like me. Maybe not, though - but either way, you can't really have one without the other. Breast growth is a consequence of estrogen.
If it helps, lots of trans women have small breasts, and depending on your genetics you may not end up growing much. A common rule of thumb is that you will probably be a size smaller than your cis female relatives.
Ahhh! I had a similar shift in mentality! Breast growth was probably the lowest thing on my list of desired changes. As my body, emotions, and mind started changing, my concerns/apprehension completely melted away. When they started to grow, it all just felt right and so normal. I think it also helped that I had a fairy built chest pre-transition, so as the muscle started to shrink and the fat started to redistribute, it wasn't super noticeable or jarring. Now I'm in a headspace where I'm just excited to see how they change; if they get bigger, I'd love that, and if they don't- that'll make buying the clothes I like easier 🤭
I also had that indifferent to breast -> love them switch. ig it's really common.
Ty for the answer!
I understand that would be the def of one of the two possible permanent changes and while I wouldn’t mind the possible balls shrinkage, I don’t want the surgery to remove the breast tissue down the line if it would come to that… But I understand that raloxifene would largely limit that and that it would also naturally shrink after detransitioning?
Breast growth is generally permanent after 3 months of being on E.
Just from some quick reading, I would not think of raloxifene as entirely preventing breast growth, but it looks like it would result in less dense breasts (which is why it is prescribed for post-menopausal women to help prevent breast cancer; note that it does not seem to have this effect in pre-menopausal women precisely because they have so much estrogen available - this indicates raloxifene would be most effective at reducing breast density in women with very low or no estrogen).
There is a difference between preventing the breast buds from forming and growing and the breast tissue itself being as dense, I would not count on raloxifene to prevent breast bud growth or permanent breast growth. Also, raloxifene has other side effects and risks associated with it like increasing risk of blood clots that would make me quite worried to be taking it, especially without guidance from medical doctors.
The fat that was distributed to the breasts under estrogen would gradually be redistributed if you went back on T, but this doesn't mean the breast bud growth would be undone, that is the permanent change.
Honestly I think it is unrealistic to consider being on E for only a couple years to get some fat redistribution and then detransitioning intentionally. The fat won't redistribute immediately and might take longer than a couple years to happen, and detransitioning will just put fat back where you didn't want it.
Switching your main sex hormones is not a trivial thing, and there can be mood swings and instability as you change, similar to the onset of puberty. You might consider trying estrogen for a couple months just to see if you feel better on estrogen, and if you do, you might have to make a choice about whether the benefits of staying on estrogen outweigh the risks for you.
I believe there is also a medication you can take while on e to prevent breast growth?
I wouldn’t know, I love mine!
do you know if that medication is raloxifene? OP is suggesting they could take that to prevent breast growth, and I'm just not sure about that 😄
I’m unsure of what it’s called a streamer I watch mentioned it
ah, well - if you ever find it let me know!
If your dominant hormone is estrogen, new fat will go to fem places. If your dominant hormone is testosterone, new fat will go to masc places. Old fat only goes away when either your body converts it to energy or it naturally breaks down after ~1.5 years.
If you stop taking estrogen and your dominant hormone becomes testosterone again, the fat you had placed while on E will go away when you burn it for energy or when the fat cell breaks down after ~1.5 years, whichever comes first. Except your boobs stay.
Your boobs stay because breast tissue stays. Breasts are also made up of fat in addition to breast tissue, and breast fat will "redistribute" in much the same way as other body fat.
I got HRT through my doctor in the US. They gave me a big informed consent document with lots of details and warnings. A lot of the warnings are a bit fearmongery, like you might have a higher risk of this specific cancer, based on one small study decades ago.
Despite all that, there were only two things described as irreversible changes, breast growth, and infertility.
If you're an adult and no longer have an actively growing skeleton, and have taken precautions against the two above changes, you should be able to stop the HRT and go back if needed.
The changes are cumulative and gradual. You burn fat from everywhere, but deposit it based on your current hormones. With time fat will appear to migrate, and will migrate back if you stop the HRT.
Edit: specifying nationality is useful information when discussing supplied documentation.
It depends on your dominant hormone and how long you've been on it. If you're on E and continue to be on E you'll get most of the fat redistribution done by 2-4 years. If you're really skinny, you might not have obvious changes until you gain weight. Breast growth can take a long time, I've heard of sudden breast growth even with 10 years hrt.
For people that are unsatisfied with their fat redistribution, fat transfer surgery is an option for breast, hip, buttocks enlargement. Its usually about 10k USD for say a 2-3 cup size increase in the breasts, which is competitive with implants on the smaller side without needing to worry about silicone in your body. Plus side, if you gain weight, you get bigger boobs. You can take fat from wherever you don't like it being.
According to surgeons, silicone must be replaced every ten years and can have some pretty bad side effects.
From what I've seen of fat transfer surgeries, they also tend not to scar much, they redistribute the fat by sucking it out with needles.