Posts: 1,955
Threads: 58
Joined: Aug 2010
Hi Misty,
I have been around this forum plenty long enough to have seen this conversation arise many times. It seems to come up regularly. Why? Because many people pass through this forum looking for answers and some who pursue this course end up pursuing transition. As many of them do so, they make close friends here and naturally wish to share their news with those friends and share in the similar findings of those with whom they have become friends. In that sense, the forum serves both as a clearing house for information on breast development but also as a social site for those engaged in it.
Over the years I have seen many people come and go. But one thing is fairly constant. Many people come here originally with no intention of "transitioning". Some never do while others change over time and proceed to do so. Why? I honestly do not know. I am not in possession of any definitive answer to this, and neither is anyone else. But we all have opinions (though some may state their opinions as fact...lol)
But to understand the possible answers it helps to define terms so we are on the same page.
Breasts do not grow on cis-male bodies through some magical process. They grow because the cismale hormonal balance is changed to reflect one that is more female in balance. This forum has copious information on that process.
Now, even within the greater TG community there is disagreement and misunderstanding on terminology. Many individuals continue to use transgender and transexual as identical, interchangeable words. But within the broader community it is generally found that the term TG is used as an umbrella term for all with some form of non binary gender identity situation, including CDs, Ts, and fetishists. Personally, I do not like labels much, so using TG as an umbrella term in this manner is very helpful to me as it negates the positive or negative connotations of all the other terms.
But in this sense, it also allows for use in describing anyone with a variety of situations all under one term. We are all, in that understanding, TG to one degree or another, from the person who merely underdresses with a pair of panties occasionally to the full blown, 24/7 post op TS (though some would argue that someone who is post op and 24/7 ceases to be TG and is simply the gender they want to be...food for another discussion...lol)
In much the same way, the term "transition" is used in different ways by different people. Some use it to imply a full move from one gender to another including SRS and going full time. But to others, "transition" implies a process, and may or may not be completed.
None the less, it is not a matter of opinion about breast growth, but simple chemistry. To grow breasts one must alter ones hormonal balance (unless using none herbal techniques such as suction). Altering ones hormonal balance may be done through pharma synthetics or through herbal substitutes. But the process is exactly the same. Lower testosterone and DHT, while increasing estrogen. This also affects the mental balance and GID, of course.
But what I am getting at is this...
Once you begin tinkering with your hormones, whether through herbs or pharma synthetics, you are, by the definition above (and, to me, common sense) entering a phase of transition.
So, given that, it is not a matter of which members are transitioning and which are simply growing breasts. Rather, we are all "in transition" to the degree that we are transforming our hormonal balance.
Now, some who come here will kid themselves that this is not true. And many will never travel far down this path. In fact, many, many who come here (myself included) come originally maintaining they are just here to "grow breasts" and have no intention of going further. I have heard this from countless people over the nearly five years I have been here. I said such things myself as little as two years ago. And many of those making such statements do indeed try this path for awhile then fall away having discovered it is not for them. But there are those who do go further, obviously. Inertia and habit tends to keep them here as here they have friends and community. I am part of that group as are others, though many who move on to pharma synthetics and the further facets of full transition eventually drift away having found other sites where there are more individuals with whom they now share more in common.
But no one says any one has to do anything. My gosh, we are all different, and all faced with unique situations in our lives and none of us can speak for anyone else but ourselves.
The only thing that can really be said in this discussion is that a good number of us who begin transition with herbs, discover as we continue that we want more. I do not believe this is the herbal balance changing who we are, but merely revealing to us who we are. For many, being trans is something that has been denied, blocked and buried. PM and other herbs often assist in removing some of the barriers to self understanding, leaving open a path to a healthier understanding of self. But for others, it reveals that interest in breasts is more of a fetish driven situation and once the process begins, the negatives outweigh the positives.
It is different for everyone. And for still others, a middle ground becomes viable wherein they may remain within "transition: virtually forever, using herbs or synthetics to balance a GID while maintaining two different facets of identity, both male and female. It all depends, as others have said, on the level of GID, and what it takes for someone to find balance in their life.
I in no way expect others to follow my path nor do I judge anyone who does not. lol...heck no.
But understanding the process is simply a matter of honesty. Calling a pig a rose does not make the pig smell better.
Growing breasts is "transition". The question is merely "how far will you go?"
And the answer is different for each of us.
Oh, and one last thing...it has also been commonly reported over the years that once embarking on a course of herbal HRT, a GID may diminish greatly, only to the increase again at a later date. Just a word of warning for what is worth. Your mileage may differ.
All the best to you in your journey, honey.
![[Image: smiley-shocked032.gif]](http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-shocked032.gif)