I consider myself lucky. I noticed breast growth after my first *week* on HRT, even at half a dose. I was honestly quite shocked. Other changes progressed slower than expected, but not that. Lucky genetics, I guess.
I just passed the three-year mark, and I'm pretty sure I'm a solid B cup, maybe even B 1/2 (half-sizing is a thing for some better bra brands). Which is actually quite a lot of boob for someone who's six feet tall with a big, broad chest (38-inch underbust) and broad shoulders. It's hard to say, but I feel like maybe I'm still developing.
My transition goal was always unambiguously female breasts, and I have those. You can't miss them unless I'm wearing something bulky like an oversized sweater. I've only experienced dysphoria around my breasts once in the last year, when I was wearing a bralette under a tee shirt and the girls were kinda squished flat. Changing into literally any other bra, including a sports bra, looked great.
Would I like them a little bigger? Sure, I guess. Not enough to even think about surgery right now, though. Maybe I'll get a BA in the future, but I'm just fine the way I am for now.
This will be a good note for me to keep in a year or two's time in case I need it.
For reference, I'm blessed with the boob genetics from rather well-endowed sisters. So I may not need it. Still, I've decided to give myself 2-3 years to see if I'm fully satisfied with 'natural' boobs first. If not? Get me to breast boobily all-the-way, doc.
I've been back and forth about getting implants, but your article sold me. Especially about not needing them to be changed out, the biggest obstacle in my mind. Biggest issue for me now is figuring out how to do this and still do roller derby...
Derby shouldn't be a problem! While you need upper body strength, it's not bodybuilder or rock climber levels. I can still hoist 40lb bags of kitty litter more or less the same as I could before.
You will have to take a couple of months off, though.
Yup! Our seasons run mid-February through mid-October, so if I can time it to get the surgery in, say, early November...
I'm more concerned about the impact, especially since I tend towards what one skater called "wrecking-ball style". But that's something to discuss with the surgeon!
UTM placement should help, but here's the big thing: I've seen surgeons drive over implants with a freaking car just to show how tough they are these days. Like, do shell failures happen? Of course they do! Nothing's perfect! But these things really are quite tough.
Talk to a specialist, cover your needs and concerns, and they'll be able to get you set up. And I bet there's at leady one person on your team who already had their boobs done already. It's really common!
Oh, for sure. I already reached out to my endo for a recommendation, especially for one who's dealt with athletes. And we have a trans woman on our team who has implants! She went more modest than I'm thinking so I wanted to see what the surgeon has to say first. Plus I tend to do a lot of the physical labor around the house (including carrying a 60-plus pound kid to bed every night), so a *significant* loss of upper strength is a legit concern.
Plenty to think on, plenty to discuss, but I'm *stoked* now! There will be a best option for me. I just need to find it.
Huh. This was very informative and provided a new perspective.
So, speaking only for myself, I personally don't prefer the appearance of larger breasts to smaller breasts. They're all good. Size doesn't matter so much to me, neither on myself or other women. Actually, the women in my family tend to have back problems, so (again, just my own opinion) larger breasts seemed like more trouble than they're worth.
You've helped me understand why women (cis and trans) get large implants. Thank you.
I'm really glad for that! It certainly wasn't the aim, but I guess I never really dared to hope that an article like this might explain why I am the way I am.
Can I ask how much natural growth you had before seeking breast augmentation? I'm hopeful I still will get some growth before I start looking for top surgery myself (I'm at 3 years on HRT). I'm trying to decide if I should wait it out to see how big I get or if I should start looking sooner.
I got my first BA at just under 2 years of HRT. At that point, I had... virtually nothing. Like, if I'd been able to otherwise boymode because of my face, which got real femme real fast, I could've gone to the beach wearing swim trunks levels of flat.
Personally? I say nobody should live with dysphoria if they've got an option at not. And, I guess, you can think of it this way: Imagine you got the BA of your dreams, and then a year later you had a growth spurt and added two cup sizes on top of it. Would you be disappointed? If not, get the ball rolling on surgery!
I have to ask: Do you know of any doctors outside the US, particularly in Europe, who specialize in XXL+ women? I'm measuring my own chest and even 800cc would barely be noticeable, about 2 cm extra thickness. I'd rather not have to rely on overfilling an implant if it's avoidable. And frankly I'm getting ready to move to the EU anyway. On the other hand I don't know if the EU has larger or smaller limits; it's hard to find any information. Can you help?
Thank you! I'll bookmark the latter for when I have my EU citizenship (hopefully soon, I qualify through an Irish grandmother but I want my name fixed first and I've been dealing with other shit so yeah this is planning way ahead. But then I was thinking I should waot a bit anyway until I'm closer to done with natural growth as I've only been on E two years and also holy shit it's been two years already?)
Just over five years ago I had the combo: GCS along with breast augmentation at the same time. I wish I'd seen your article beforehand but I'm not sure it would have changed anything for me other than I would have had more questions for my surgeon.
I told her that I wanted C-cup size breasts; she told me that that was all that she needed to know. During the surgery she'd judge what size implants I needed to get there. I was pretty confused by this but went along for the ride and we got there just fine. My only complaint: with having her make the incision around the areola I have absolutely zero feelings in my nipples. Nada, nothing. Not a huge deal but there you go.
I'm glad to hear about the fallacy of the ten year rule. I've been recently thinking... okay, five more years to go. Now I know that, sure, in five years they should be "checked" but I have no idea how. By feel, I guess.
About the implant packaging: I've feared that they're kinda fragile. Like when my cat walks across my chest I fear she'll puncture one. That seems to be nothing to worry about.
I believe the implants I received are 1,500cc and the surgeon told me that they are silicon-filled, but that seems impossible given your 800cc upper limit. I told her that I preferred the saline-fill to reduce risk but she advised that the silicon ones are better and not to worry.
A couple of fun stories:
As I laid in bed for recovery I named one "Whitney" and the other "Denali".
A couple of days after returning home my very lovely and friendly neighbor came over. When I answered the door, she exclaimed, "Nice rack!" I crack up to this day...
A couple of years ago while changing into a gown for a mammogram (behind a curtain in the room) the technician asked, "Have you had breast surgery before?" Yes, I answered. "Oh, reduction?" "No, Augmentation!", I replied. That was fun. After the test she showed me the pictures and explained it all. Very fun.
For checkups of your augs: this is usually done by ultrasound, so it's nice and easy.
On size: I've never heard of anyone getting to 1500ccs in a single operation before. I won't say it's impossible, because bodies are weird, but if you want to know for sure, request a copy of your surgical records. That'll have the final size noted for sure. And if your doc was talking silicone, and timing for a C, maybe 500?that sounds a lot more plausible to me, because 1500 would be solidly in the J-K cup range (US).
Oh, maybe it was 1,500cc total, 750cc each? I wear a C-cup bra, (38C, fitted at Nordstrom's) so I guess she hit the mark?
Also, great to know how they're checked. In retrospect—in mid-2018—I was in a hurry to get the appointment on the books and didn't have a long list of questions, especially follow-up questions for clarity. I could have (should have) drafted a list and sent them around to others for enhancement. We learn from our mistakes, don't we.
I must and happily report that I have zero regrets. One of my goals was to be able to freely go into women-only spaces while traveling, like showers and spas. Last Fall, in Hokkaido, I visited several onsen hot baths and no one batted an eye.
I consider myself lucky. I noticed breast growth after my first *week* on HRT, even at half a dose. I was honestly quite shocked. Other changes progressed slower than expected, but not that. Lucky genetics, I guess.
I just passed the three-year mark, and I'm pretty sure I'm a solid B cup, maybe even B 1/2 (half-sizing is a thing for some better bra brands). Which is actually quite a lot of boob for someone who's six feet tall with a big, broad chest (38-inch underbust) and broad shoulders. It's hard to say, but I feel like maybe I'm still developing.
My transition goal was always unambiguously female breasts, and I have those. You can't miss them unless I'm wearing something bulky like an oversized sweater. I've only experienced dysphoria around my breasts once in the last year, when I was wearing a bralette under a tee shirt and the girls were kinda squished flat. Changing into literally any other bra, including a sports bra, looked great.
Would I like them a little bigger? Sure, I guess. Not enough to even think about surgery right now, though. Maybe I'll get a BA in the future, but I'm just fine the way I am for now.
This will be a good note for me to keep in a year or two's time in case I need it.
For reference, I'm blessed with the boob genetics from rather well-endowed sisters. So I may not need it. Still, I've decided to give myself 2-3 years to see if I'm fully satisfied with 'natural' boobs first. If not? Get me to breast boobily all-the-way, doc.
I love how confident and happy you look! I’m getting a consultation in the spring for the opposite procedure, and I’m both excited and nervous.
That's wonderful!! And yeah, it's hard to not be confident when you get this reasurring, feminine jiggle with every step.
I've been back and forth about getting implants, but your article sold me. Especially about not needing them to be changed out, the biggest obstacle in my mind. Biggest issue for me now is figuring out how to do this and still do roller derby...
Derby shouldn't be a problem! While you need upper body strength, it's not bodybuilder or rock climber levels. I can still hoist 40lb bags of kitty litter more or less the same as I could before.
You will have to take a couple of months off, though.
Yup! Our seasons run mid-February through mid-October, so if I can time it to get the surgery in, say, early November...
I'm more concerned about the impact, especially since I tend towards what one skater called "wrecking-ball style". But that's something to discuss with the surgeon!
UTM placement should help, but here's the big thing: I've seen surgeons drive over implants with a freaking car just to show how tough they are these days. Like, do shell failures happen? Of course they do! Nothing's perfect! But these things really are quite tough.
Talk to a specialist, cover your needs and concerns, and they'll be able to get you set up. And I bet there's at leady one person on your team who already had their boobs done already. It's really common!
Oh, for sure. I already reached out to my endo for a recommendation, especially for one who's dealt with athletes. And we have a trans woman on our team who has implants! She went more modest than I'm thinking so I wanted to see what the surgeon has to say first. Plus I tend to do a lot of the physical labor around the house (including carrying a 60-plus pound kid to bed every night), so a *significant* loss of upper strength is a legit concern.
Plenty to think on, plenty to discuss, but I'm *stoked* now! There will be a best option for me. I just need to find it.
Fantastic!!
Huh. This was very informative and provided a new perspective.
So, speaking only for myself, I personally don't prefer the appearance of larger breasts to smaller breasts. They're all good. Size doesn't matter so much to me, neither on myself or other women. Actually, the women in my family tend to have back problems, so (again, just my own opinion) larger breasts seemed like more trouble than they're worth.
You've helped me understand why women (cis and trans) get large implants. Thank you.
I'm really glad for that! It certainly wasn't the aim, but I guess I never really dared to hope that an article like this might explain why I am the way I am.
Can I ask how much natural growth you had before seeking breast augmentation? I'm hopeful I still will get some growth before I start looking for top surgery myself (I'm at 3 years on HRT). I'm trying to decide if I should wait it out to see how big I get or if I should start looking sooner.
Absolutely!
I got my first BA at just under 2 years of HRT. At that point, I had... virtually nothing. Like, if I'd been able to otherwise boymode because of my face, which got real femme real fast, I could've gone to the beach wearing swim trunks levels of flat.
Personally? I say nobody should live with dysphoria if they've got an option at not. And, I guess, you can think of it this way: Imagine you got the BA of your dreams, and then a year later you had a growth spurt and added two cup sizes on top of it. Would you be disappointed? If not, get the ball rolling on surgery!
I have to ask: Do you know of any doctors outside the US, particularly in Europe, who specialize in XXL+ women? I'm measuring my own chest and even 800cc would barely be noticeable, about 2 cm extra thickness. I'd rather not have to rely on overfilling an implant if it's avoidable. And frankly I'm getting ready to move to the EU anyway. On the other hand I don't know if the EU has larger or smaller limits; it's hard to find any information. Can you help?
EU doctors in general are not my area of expertise. I know a couple of names, but none I'm confident enough in to recommend.
And in the EU, implant shells rated for 1200ccs are approved, so you've got a +50% margin over the US limit.
Amy advice on how to research? Like how did you find your choice of doctor?
My first recommendations are always RealSelf and the /r/transgender_surgeries wiki. Those will be, by far, your best resource.
Thank you! I'll bookmark the latter for when I have my EU citizenship (hopefully soon, I qualify through an Irish grandmother but I want my name fixed first and I've been dealing with other shit so yeah this is planning way ahead. But then I was thinking I should waot a bit anyway until I'm closer to done with natural growth as I've only been on E two years and also holy shit it's been two years already?)
The surgeon peddled the 10 Year Rule to me, too 😕
Doctors are human too. They tend to stick with what they were trained on.
I try to be forgiving about stuff like that where I can.
Just over five years ago I had the combo: GCS along with breast augmentation at the same time. I wish I'd seen your article beforehand but I'm not sure it would have changed anything for me other than I would have had more questions for my surgeon.
I told her that I wanted C-cup size breasts; she told me that that was all that she needed to know. During the surgery she'd judge what size implants I needed to get there. I was pretty confused by this but went along for the ride and we got there just fine. My only complaint: with having her make the incision around the areola I have absolutely zero feelings in my nipples. Nada, nothing. Not a huge deal but there you go.
I'm glad to hear about the fallacy of the ten year rule. I've been recently thinking... okay, five more years to go. Now I know that, sure, in five years they should be "checked" but I have no idea how. By feel, I guess.
About the implant packaging: I've feared that they're kinda fragile. Like when my cat walks across my chest I fear she'll puncture one. That seems to be nothing to worry about.
I believe the implants I received are 1,500cc and the surgeon told me that they are silicon-filled, but that seems impossible given your 800cc upper limit. I told her that I preferred the saline-fill to reduce risk but she advised that the silicon ones are better and not to worry.
A couple of fun stories:
As I laid in bed for recovery I named one "Whitney" and the other "Denali".
A couple of days after returning home my very lovely and friendly neighbor came over. When I answered the door, she exclaimed, "Nice rack!" I crack up to this day...
A couple of years ago while changing into a gown for a mammogram (behind a curtain in the room) the technician asked, "Have you had breast surgery before?" Yes, I answered. "Oh, reduction?" "No, Augmentation!", I replied. That was fun. After the test she showed me the pictures and explained it all. Very fun.
For checkups of your augs: this is usually done by ultrasound, so it's nice and easy.
On size: I've never heard of anyone getting to 1500ccs in a single operation before. I won't say it's impossible, because bodies are weird, but if you want to know for sure, request a copy of your surgical records. That'll have the final size noted for sure. And if your doc was talking silicone, and timing for a C, maybe 500?that sounds a lot more plausible to me, because 1500 would be solidly in the J-K cup range (US).
Oh, maybe it was 1,500cc total, 750cc each? I wear a C-cup bra, (38C, fitted at Nordstrom's) so I guess she hit the mark?
Also, great to know how they're checked. In retrospect—in mid-2018—I was in a hurry to get the appointment on the books and didn't have a long list of questions, especially follow-up questions for clarity. I could have (should have) drafted a list and sent them around to others for enhancement. We learn from our mistakes, don't we.
I must and happily report that I have zero regrets. One of my goals was to be able to freely go into women-only spaces while traveling, like showers and spas. Last Fall, in Hokkaido, I visited several onsen hot baths and no one batted an eye.
Thank you!
That's certainly plausible on size. And congratulations! That sounds wonderful!
Congratulations!!! And I apologize for nothinggggg! 🤭
Also, Armitage avatar--a sign of class. 10/10.
That show is SUCH a transfem vibe.
🤣🤣🤣
In fairness, while there are many things Armitage is, a bimbo is *not* one of them.