[racquel]

Some prices

You can get a boob job for about $4,000. A good one will be more. You can get a basic facelift for about $4,000, but you can easily spend more like $40,000 - $50,000 for facial feminization.

An orchiectomy (castration) costs about $2,000. SRS (sex reassignment) costs about $12,000 in Thailand and $20,000 in the US. SRS with limited depth (i.e. a hoo-hoo that you can't put anything in) costs around $8,000.

A lot of people seem to get the orchiectomy first just because it is a relatively cheap and simple procedure and it makes them feel like they're accomplishing something towards their transition. It's not going to magically make you more feminine if you've already blocked all your testosterone anyway.

If you're getting your hormone levels checked by a doctor, you should be able to greatly reduce your intake of T-blockers after a year or two, so I really don't see the point in the procedure except for cosmetic purposes. I don't think a half-empty scrotum looks sexy anymore than I think big dangling vagina lips look sexy. But that's a moot point, because if you're ever considering getting full SRS, you have to keep most of the scrotal skin so the doctor has more to work with during the labioplasty.



Public Service Announcement About Genital Mutilation Fantasies

I need to say that I'm offended by the OP Tailia, CuriousGirl (who I've bitched about plenty before) and a few others. They in no uncertain terms have said they get off on the idea of trans women being castrated with or without consent. That's disgusting. If someone truly wants such a procedure, knows the consequences, and is not being coerced it's fine, but otherwise we are talking about genital mutililation. CuriousGirl is obviously lying about most of the things she posts and experiences she says she has had. I don't think she's even female, because she's shown that she knows very little about the female anatomy. I even had to correct her about how tampons work.

But playing along with these sociopaths (or just plain retards in the case of CuriousGirl) is the same as saying female circumcision is OK. Actually it's worse because at least with female circumcision the recipient's hormones (and therefore their entire mental and physiological state) aren't permanently altered. It's horrifying that the rest of you can sit there and read things like, "I do adore the thought of shemale balls clinking into the pan," without calling the person saying it a sick freak. Maybe you want to castrate people. Maybe you want to rape and murder people. Keep it to yourself, though, and try to pretend you're sane. When insane people start supporting each other in their psychopathic fantasies, that's when you get NAMBLA.

I was glad to see Ila (and then Hank) speak up about this at post 193, although that seemed mostly focused on one particular guy who didn't seem all that bad to me.



Public Service Announcement About Words That Offend Trannys

If you're going to talk about castration, you should know that the medical procedure is called an orchiectomy. Castration is what it's called when you're chopping the balls off a farm animal. Castration is what you say you want to do to a sex offender. The medical community and the trans community almost exclusively use the clinical term orchiectomy. "Castrate" and "shemale" (and even "ladyboy") are going to offend a lot of trans girls because to them you are referencing their maleness. I know most people here mean no disrespect. I'm just saying you'll have to watch yourself in public if you don't want to look like an asshole.

And for most trans women, the word "tranny" is kinda like "nigger" for black people or "redneck" for white people. Some people may refer to themselves or others like themselves using those words, but they're still going to be offended if someone else gives them that label.



Responding to specific things in the thread...

Originally Posted by tux

One of the reason for getting castrated as a shemale, is that the orgasm wil be more intense and more like the orgasm of a female.. That is one of the reasons.

Saying things about having "male" orgasms before you're castrated and "female" orgasms after... well... that's partially true, and the type of sexual build-up you feel is a lot different when you're full of testosterone and just need to cum vs. when you're full of estrogen and just need to feel the emotion, but again, the fact is that it's awfully rare for someone to get their testicles removed without having already been on T-blockers long enough to be having dry orgams.

Tux also said some other bizarre stuff like implying shemales inject testosterone to get hard. Some people have claimed to do that, but I doubt it. If you're having erection trouble, Viagra is a whole lot easier, and it doesn't work against all your efforts to be feminine.

Originally Posted by redball

Most of the ladies in the ball less pictures seem to be having no trouble getting hard. They would still be able to shoot, as 99% of semen comes from the prostate. I had a vasectomy many years ago and I only noticed a slightly lesser volume of cum.

When you cum, pre-cum comes from the Cowper's glands, when you actually shoot, the first cum (the semen that contains all the sperm), comes from the prostate, then everything else that oozes out comes from the seminal vesicles. The prostate atrophies almost completely in the absence of testosterone, and the others tend to atrophy quite a bit, so if there's no testosterone you're left with a wet spot if you're lucky, but no shooting.

Originally Posted by honda

Does this removal or lack of the items make it a lot easier to lose unwanted hair?

No, it's hard to lose unwanted hair once you've already got it, but lack of testosterone does thin out body hair a bit, and estrogen makes your hair more fine and often more curly and your skin softer.

Originally Posted by digit

Don,t they have a surgery that will put them in your abdomen.I know some SRS put them there so they still keep there sex drive. So why couldn,t this happen.

Where the hell did you hear that? This is certainly not a procedure anybody does in the US.

Originally Posted by i love Saenz

Shemales should have their balls! They are sexual persons just like the rest of us. And without their balls they will not get aroused or have any sexual pleasure.

Why the hell do people think stuff like that? Genetic females don't have balls. Are you saying they do not get aroused or have any sexual pleasure?

Originally Posted by sirmartinfrobisher

I am a mod on other ts forums and I once asked why the girls didnt rush to get castrated. They said their hormone doctors had told them that they still needed the testosterone. I am not qualified to comment but I respect their needs.
jr

That's not true. You don't really need testosterone. Although if you don't have testosterone or estrogen you'll get severe osteoporosis, hot flashes, and other problems including probably dying sooner.

Many doctors will recommend orchiectomy after a few years on HRT because they're worried about the long-term effects of the drugs.

Originally Posted by Charlotte

... I was taking provera initially which knocked my testosterone to a level lower than what would be considered low for a genetic female. My doctor said that essentially I had no testosterone. At that point I went on estrogen.
The provera caused me to shrink to the point that I looked like I had been surgically castated with the scrotum shrinking also. My penis looked like a button being sort of an "innie" rather than an "outie". When I started on estrogen I stopped the provera and slowly the penis and testicles regained some size but have stayed very small. ...

I find your story hard to believe.

First, Provera is not used for chemical castration. It is not a testosterone blocker. It is a progestin, and not a very good one in pill form (it is mostly distroyed in the stomach and liver). Depo-provera (the injectable form) also has bad side effects for most people including weight gain, often severe depression, and usually no positive effects to speak of. Provera is used to treat menstrual problems, and Depo-provera is used for birth control.

Second, no pill makes your penis shrink. Being on testosterone blockers for years only causes it to shrink some because you're not erect for hours a day so it naturally shrinks a little, but you're not going to get an "innie" penis unless you were already microscopic. And stopping taking whatever it was won't make your penis grow again unless you start getting erections all the time again.

Third, estrogen has more of an anti-testosterone effect than progesterone, so if you had no testosterone and you started estrogen and stopped Provera you wouldn't have testosterone come back.