Stopping hormones comes with some psychological risks for trans patients, and "a feeling of loss."Nina Resetkova, a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF, says that trans patients need to consider the question: How important is having a biological child to you before medically transitioning, and how important is it to your partner? If the answer is "important" or "very important," then patients can consider a variety of options to fulfill that goal. For both transmasculine and transfeminine patients, banking reproductive material, be it eggs or sperm, is an option before starting HRT. Even after starting hormones, studies have shown that both transmasculine and transfeminine patients are able to produce viable eggs and sperm when stopping hormones for a few months. Still, stopping hormones comes with some psychological risks for trans patients. For transmasculine patients, they may begin getting their periods again, which could be a source of anxiety and distress. Transfeminine patients will have to deal with lower sperm counts after going off testosterone blockers. Other physical changes as a result of gender-affirming hormones will subside, too. “A lot of the forward progress
"I wish people would take a second to deconstruct the trans experience and realize all that we have to do."“The process of trying to conceive for the first time, via IUI, was incredibly taxing on our relationship,” Lauren and Sam told me in a joint email. “We didn't conceive and that sent us back to the drawing board with a little more humility and understanding.” Realizing there was only so much sperm to work with was eye-opening for both partners. “The next time we try, we'll go through IVF. However, at nearly $30K and without help from insurance, it's not in the cards for us in the near future.” Lauren says that anyone who's planning to bank material during transitioning should keep all this in mind while doing research. “Just because you save doesn't mean you'll have an easy shot at having biological kids,” Lauren says. Lauren began the process of starting HRT in 2014, at a time when trans people were less visible in public spaces and information about fertility in general was less available. So she turned to the internet to find answers. For many trans people looking to cut down on costs, but still preserve material for future kids, online companies have become a lifeline. Services such as “Dadi” and “Xytex” allow trans patients to store material without having to face the anxiety of potentially seeing a non-trans-affirming doctor face-to-face. Robbi, a trans woman living in Spokane, Washington, says she delayed medically transitioning for multiple years because she wanted to bank sperm in hopes of one day having a biological child. After finding a company that allowed her to store reproductive material by sending samples through the mail, Robbi received devastating news: She was infertile. Despite the outcome of the process, she hopes her story allows others to see the many hurdles trans people face when seeking fertility treatment. “