[AnnieBL]

An interesting series of thoughts, Annie.
I suppose, risking branding on this board as a heretic, I should confess that what originally brought me to this board was a mix of ignorance and laziness, and had nothing to do with being "natural"
After years of "dressing", I knew I needed more...of what, exactly, I did not know. I was in a drug store and saw a bottle of pills in the women's health section that promised to boost breast growth. On a whim, I bought the bottle and took the pills for awhile, feeling foolish as I knew I was a sucker. But I looked at the ingredients, and the pills contained a cocktail oh herbal ingredients. Researching those ingredients brought me here, and the rest is history.
But it was about convenience, you see?
Had that same drug store shelf contained bottles os over the counter estradiol, I would have bought that.
However, at the time I was convinced the only path to a supply of regular HRT hormones led through. Therapist and at least a year of living full time as a woman.
This was four years ago and the depth of my ignorance at that time was staggering.
Yes, I now have a supply of estradiol, but only through a series of happy coincidences that led me to it without any of the baggage involving long term therapy, living as a woman and so on. Granted, I am now using the services of a TG therapist, but this came about more in connection to stress after coming out to my wife and the ensuing problems associated with that, rather than an attempt to gain access to a scrip.had I not stumbled into the office of an unbelievably open minded, TG friendly endo, I expect I would still not be using estradiol, and would still be happily scarfing handfuls of PM.
It isn't, for me about whether the "tool" is natural, but about whether it is most effective, and readily available on my terms.
And, yes, I expect PM is far more complex than syn E. On the other hand, I think I had gone maybe as far as I could on PM, and that I needed a change.
We will see where this goes, won!t we?

I don't think that your use of estradiol is in any way unnatural, for the reasons i gave. What is unnatural is the conditions that used to be imposed (and sometimes still are) to get a prescription. I suspect that your 'confession' and mine, although our paths are different, would have quite a bit in common. I did at one point get hold of and take some estradiol, but the quantity was too small to prove anything. I also considered buying it while in Brazil some years back, but my courage failed me - also the quantity of pills required to last me for perhaps years seemed to present a potential customs problem.

My only concern is that the E2 may take you too far and too fast, and that we might lose you despite your protestations. I and obviously others truly value your support, example and friendship. Hugs from