# What happens if a male takes HRT intended for transmen?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-male-takes-hrt-intended-for-transmen/942997>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 27, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-male-takes-hrt-intended-for-transmen/942997 "2021-05-27T01:29:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-male-takes-hrt-intended-for-transmen/942997/21 "2021-05-30T17:32:43Z")

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> [@ALOHA\_HATER](#):
>
> Pretty sure steroids are different from hormones

Anabolic steroids are a form of synthetic testosterone. They are precisely hormones.

“ A steroid hormone is a steroid that acts as a hormone. Steroid hormones include [sex steroid](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/sex-steroid)s (e.g. [androgen](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/androgen)s, [estrogen](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/estrogen)s, and [progesterone](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/progesterone)s), [corticosteroid](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/corticosteroid)s (e.g. glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids), and [anabolic steroid](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/anabolic-steroid)s. They, therefore, are involved in regulating the development of sexual characteristics, inflammation, immune functions, and [homeostasis](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/homeostasis).”

> **[Steroid hormone](https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/steroid-hormone)**
>
> Definition noun, plural: steroid hormones A type of steroid that acts as a hormone, and that which is exemplified by sex steroids, corticosteroids, and anabolic steroids Supplement Steroids are organic compounds derived from lanosterol in

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**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-male-takes-hrt-intended-for-transmen/942997/22 "2021-05-31T21:27:56Z")

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As an aside, I have learned today that:

[Topical Oestrogen Keratinises The Human Foreskin and May Help Prevent HIV Infection](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002308)

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**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-male-takes-hrt-intended-for-transmen/942997/23 "2021-06-01T00:58:10Z")

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When Ben Johnson won the 100m dash for Canada in Seoul, then tested positive for steroids, there was a major inquiry. Some doctors testified the steroids would lead to shrunken testicles and ED problems. Ben’s girlfriend testified that he was not in that way impaired. YMMV.

(Upshot was he tried the “Ben Johnson” defense - “I’m too stupid, I just took what my doctor told me to.”; but he was caught because of a drug he took that his doctor did not tell him to take. And sadly, they let him compete a few years later - clean - and he did poorly. Thus, he unfortunately proved that steroids _can_ turn a very good athlete into a world class one.)

I think it was to 70’s or 80’s National Lampoon had a “Soviet Athlete Edition” which featured a (mock) female athlete on the cover, with gold medal and wearing tights displaying an obvious men’s “package”. So even back then, the rumors were rife about this.  
[https://www.ebay.com/itm/223131081199](https://www.ebay.com/itm/223131081199)

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