This cis guy is taking estrogen for fun, and trans folks have thoughts

Starting hormone replacement therapy (aka HRT) is a big step for trans folks looking to physically transition. But what does it mean for a cisgender person to take hormones just for kicks?

That’s the question a 22-year-old cis man took to a trans subreddit for advice. In a post titled “Taking recreational HRT as a cis man — dumb idea?”, he explained that three years ago, he experimented with taking estrogen, just to see what it was like.

“The idea had always intrigued me — how much of the emotional effects of sex hormones are real and how much is stereotyping? What does it feel like to have the wrong sex hormones in your body?” he explained.

“After a week or so I started to feel much more emotionally open, even uncontrollably tearing up at a few things that I normally would never react to,” he continued. “Feelings of anger and anxiety also diminished by like 90%, but I also felt like I had lower energy.”

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Though he didn’t dislike the emotional changes, the poster decided to stop taking estrogen after two weeks due to some of the physical changes, including a low libido and enlarged nipples. Still, he’s decided to give his experiment another go, and as of writing the post had been taking estrogen again for three days. 

“I think the shift in worldview HRT gave me was actually pretty cool tbh,” he said. “I view it in a similar way to shrooms or some other psychedelic. It’s just nice to shake up your brain chemistry every once in a while.”

With that, he opened the floor for comments: “Am I stupid for doing this? I think it might become a once or twice yearly thing where I just chill out and take HRT for a couple weeks. Are there any serious long term effects I should be worried about doing it this way?” he asked.

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For the most part, the trans folks of Reddit met the post with confusion and amusement. “This seems super strange to me but to each their own,” wrote one user. “Breast growth [is] irreversible, but that’s really the only side effect long term I could see happening if you are only taking it for a couple weeks.”

Several people pointed out the obvious: if this supposedly cis guy really loves the way that estrogen makes him feel, he may just be an egg who needs to do some deep thinking on his gender identity.

“I don’t think you’re stupid, but … You’re f*cking wild,” one person wrote. “Look, man, if HRT makes your brain feel good . . . I dunno. That’s maybe something you should look at a little harder.”

“This doesn’t strike me as very cis behavior, especially considering the mental effects you described while on estrogen,” agreed another.

“I used to have a lot of empathy too and then one day I realized I was just trans,” a third commenter shared, getting straight to the point.

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Then there’s the question of if taking HRT as a cis person is in any way disrespectful to trans people.

“I think the way you’ve described your approach is stupid. HRT isn’t an ayahuasca trip, it’s life-changing medicine,” wrote one commenter. “A good deal of the physical changes aren’t easily reversible. The big question is like…why? If you want to be less anxious or angry there are much simpler ways of achieving that.”

But others said there’s no reason cis people shouldn’t feel comfortable experimenting with hormones, as long as they’re aware of the effects.

“I know a lot of people are upset about you taking estrogen ‘frivolously’ and that it’s somehow?? disrespectful, but I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, really,” one person commented.

“In short, ‘you do you,’” another commenter put it. “But looking from the outside as a trans person, I would at least encourage you to consider why HRT makes you feel the way it does compared to your current ‘default’ hormones.”