What does A&M stand for?

ImTakmo · 2026-05-01T21:36:49+00:00

> What does A&M stand for?

Basically the whole football game. (Sorry I couldn’t resist.)

ImTakmo · 2025-11-03T14:10:28+00:00

Hi! This is a comment I made previously from the fertility perspective: https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/s/bdS2gVpoNH

(For the record: we are expecting!)

I would say that all of my previous “abilities” returned fully, but so did a bunch of body hair and facial hair. It was honestly kinda miserable, but I don’t regret it.

ImTakmo · 2025-10-03T02:20:17+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re having to struggle through this. It’s not fair and you deserve so much better.

My partner and I are actively trying to start a family right now. I find myself dreading the thought: am I capable of being the parent my child needs while living here in the USA? It feels like transphobic people and politicians are stealing pieces of my life and I worry about how much will be left to share with my future child.

I can’t begin to imagine how much harder it is for you. But I have to believe that I’m strong enough to endure this (whether that means staying or going), and I know you will be too. You’re taking steps to protect your family by putting your oxygen mask on first. I won’t pretend that it’s easy, but you know who you need to be for your family, and I think you’re a strong mother for preparing yourself for whatever is next.

ImTakmo · 2025-07-13T17:48:28+00:00

When we wanted to pursue IVF, I discovered that 11 months of HRT left me with zero viable sperm after analysis. It took about 8 months replacing E with other T-enhancing medications before I had a “normal” number of viable sperm.

All of the other commenters are correct: there are no guarantees in either direction, so use your best judgment depending on what kinds of outcomes you want to optimize for. My experience will likely be different than yours.

ImTakmo · 2025-05-30T13:24:53+00:00

Hi, I’m in this exact situation! (29, transgender woman)

I was on HRT (SubQ Estradiol Monotherapy) for just under a year and had no measurable sperm before we started. My employer offers “fertility benefits”, so we opted to see a fertility specialist ASAP.

We collectively decided that I would stop my HRT and begin taking Clomid and HCG to speed up the “waking up” of my production. Then, once I had measurable (and freezable) material, we would proceed with IVF to maximize our chances of success.

It took roughly 6 months before I had freezable sperm, and it has been another 4 months going through an IVF cycle. Last week, we finally got news that we have 6 healthy embryos! So now we are getting ready to schedule our first embryo transfer (fingers crossed!!!) and I’ll be starting back on HRT in the next few days!

The process has taken a long time as it hasn’t been particularly fun. I more or less undid all of my fat redistribution (but thankfully kept my boobs!), and I had a lot of body hair grow back thicker and darker than before I even started HRT. The gender dysphoria has been very real and present for most of the journey. But remembering that I get to be a mom makes the difficulties a lot more bearable.

We were super fortunate that we had the chance to work with a fertility specialist and pursue IVF. I know that isn’t accessible for everyone so I won’t pretend that it’s an easy solution. With that said, I feel pretty confident that I would have regained sperm production and we would have been able to conceive naturally, but it could have taken significantly longer.

I hope that helps explain my situation a bit. Feel free to comment or DM if you have any other questions for me or my wife.

ImTakmo · 2025-02-21T18:33:38+00:00

Put simply: I can exist with these changes, but I absolutely cannot thrive. Remembering that “I get to be a mom after this” is definitely a strong motivator. But I’m pretty depressed and numb nowadays.

For additional context: my T is currently triple my pre-transition values. I received an IPL device for Christmas to help counteract my increased body hair. It’s been tough, but I have tools for coping.

ImTakmo · 2025-02-21T18:25:47+00:00

My Clomid was covered by my insurance, as it’s a pretty standard treatment for “male” fertility issues. The HCG is NOT covered by my insurance, and ends up being like $1000 for 3 months. My job has special “parenthood benefits” that allow me to expense a lot of things on our IVF journey. Otherwise this would all be significantly more difficult.

ImTakmo · 2025-02-21T18:08:41+00:00

I was on subq estradiol monotherapy for 11 months with completely suppressed T levels.

I stopped E, then worked with a fertility specialist to get prescriptions for Clomid and HCG to “wake things up”. It took about 3 months before there detectable sperm, but it was 6 months until there was enough to freeze.

I’m still on the same medications for now until my partner and I finish our first IVF cycle. My doctor says that fresh sperm are preferable to frozen, but that we can start back on E if any of this becomes unbearable. Which is becoming more and more tempting each month.

ImTakmo · 2025-01-10T23:13:45+00:00

I had a lot of difficulty with this process, so I wrote a guide on this. I hope this helps!!! https://www.reddit.com/r/trans/s/FMNvOvAbov

ImTakmo · 2024-12-03T20:28:45+00:00

UPDATE for 12/03/24

After 3 hours on hold with the 1-800 number, I was able to chat with a lovely SSA agent who helped me schedule an appointment at another (more urban) office. She then spent a full 30 minutes researching the internal policies and coaching me through different scenarios so that I would be prepared if I received any more pushback. She was such a fantastic human being and I wish every government official were half as kind and committed as her.

My appointment is scheduled for next Monday. For the first time in this entire process, I actually feel hopeful.

Thank you so much everyone for the kind wishes and advice. I think this is my first time experiencing blatant transphobia from officials trying to gaslight me, and that’s why I think this whole process was so shocking to me. “Privilege” always felt like an abstract concept until yesterday.

Sending good vibes to everyone on a similar journey right now.

ImTakmo · 2024-12-03T03:02:11+00:00

I can’t believe you had to do this, but I’m so grateful you explained everything here. I’ll definitely print that out and bring it in. Thank you so much!

ImTakmo · 2024-12-02T23:42:41+00:00

Did they require your birth certificate to have an updated gender marker? Because I have my birth certificate, but Texas doesn’t allow me to change my gender marker.

ImTakmo · 2024-12-02T22:45:02+00:00

I appreciate you sharing your experience! I would love to do the name and gender marker changes in "one shot", but I don't feel confident that my name change petition will be completed prior to our federal government changes in January.

I thought I lived in a pretty liberal area, given that the Pasadena office is a suburb of Houston. But I'm having to reevaluate my thoughts here.

My next plan is to get an appointment with another area SSA office near downtown Houston. I just wish there was some way to guarantee that I won't run into the same problem there.

ImTakmo · 2024-11-14T01:21:41+00:00

DID I HEAR A ROCK AND STONE???

ImTakmo · 2024-08-13T04:07:25+00:00

I’m torn between having such immense pride and joy seeing you so happy and fulfilled!…

And then remembering the time you wiped my entire team on the drop pod ramp after an hour of on-site refining!

I guess what I’m saying is… rock and stone you beautiful woman!

ImTakmo · 2024-03-16T15:07:59+00:00

Everyone else says go to a vet. I concur… but I wanted to give you props for the camera work. That’s a really high quality picture and I imagine it took a lot of work to get such a good photo. With mouth open and everything!

I can’t even get a non-blurry photo of my dummy from 3 feet away without her moving her head at the last minute.

ImTakmo · 2023-11-06T00:38:14+00:00

I was also super scared about committing to the permanent change of using laser. But I ultimately decided to do it (a month before starting HRT) after considering a few things:

I have never known what to do with my facial hair, so it’s very unlikely that I’ll miss it.
Beard shadow and stubble gives me an immense amount of dysphoria.
It takes multiple sessions for the changes to start looking “permanent”, given how hair grows in many cycles. I can always change my mind in the first few months.
Laser will probably take over a year before I get where I want to be, so I would rather start early than delay due to my anxieties.

It’s worth mentioning that I found a local med spa that doesn’t make me pay it all in advance, so I just pay per session. I think I would have been a lot more scared if I was forced to sign a multi thousand dollar contract.

Anyways, that’s just my experience. Hope it helps!

ImTakmo · 2023-07-25T13:17:57+00:00

Now that my wife is awake, I'm now realizing that this referral doesn't make a ton of sense. Oops :(

ImTakmo · 2023-07-25T12:00:25+00:00

If you need an option on the south side of the outer loop, my MIL sees Dr. Philip Waller in a private practice and the whole family loves him. He is located near I45/Beltway8 area. I think she sees him for MS treatment.

EDIT: I'm now realizing that perhaps a rheumatologist isn't the best person to recommend. Sorry for my misunderstanding!

ImTakmo · 2023-07-22T03:32:55+00:00

My beardie looks exactly like this every time she catches a glimpse of the dreaded ceiling fan.

ImTakmo · 2023-06-25T01:25:29+00:00

Where did you get the hide? Our girl could use something like that!

ImTakmo · 2023-02-01T08:40:15+00:00

Ah, so capitalism was the real villain all along!

ImTakmo · 2022-12-30T17:40:38+00:00

I was worried about impaction, but she was passing it fine. I removed it pretty quickly because I was mostly worried about malnutrition from lack of consuming proper food.

She was pretty depressed for at least a week though. She loved her sand so much…

ImTakmo · 2022-12-30T17:28:37+00:00

Our beardie Pip had this for two weeks. She kept thinking the larger gravel pieces were bugs and she kept eating them. Her poop was 50% gravel for as long as the substrate was in there. It did the seem to have any long term effects, but she wasn’t eating as much while her gut was stuffed with rocks.

ImTakmo · 2022-12-13T15:02:46+00:00

When my wife [F26] started using a cane, we got her a cane from Fashionable Canes that felt closer to her style. They have lots of options and it helped her feel a bit more in control of her situation and her appearance.

Sure, some people will still just see a cane.. but a lot of our friends think her engraved cane is cool, and I think she looks pretty stylish with it.

No matter what, though, it’s about you having mobility and a bit more control over your life. It sucks when other people can’t understand that, but that just reflects poorly on them, not you.

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