Estrogen could change Sexual Orientation in Transgender Women. Here’s why.

Please note: The change in sexual orientation discussed here is from gynephilic to androphilic. For context, this article recognizes that estrogen could change sexual attraction in transgender lesbians who were women-loving. That means that prolonged use of estrogen; could cause these women to become attracted to men. Estrogen does not change the sexual orientation of transgender women who are androphilic or attracted to men.

Estrogen is a powerful hormone. In addition to producing those feminine appearances that many transgender women desire, there might be theoretical evidence that HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) could change sexual orientation in some transgender women.

I belong to a Facebook group of over 9,000 members. Now and then, a member comments how she is suddenly becoming attracted to men. Usually, this person is a transbian (a transwoman attracted to women sexually) who had always expressed romantic attraction to women. I began asking myself, how did things change?

Once, I had spoken to this particular trans woman. She was post-op and had suddenly taken a romantic interest in men after her gender affirmation surgery. I had seen her posts on Facebook where she asked for advice on dating men since she was romantically into women before. We had a long conversation where she told me that she had found penetration very enjoyable after her surgery. I inquired about her wife. Before surgery, her wife would peg her. “Was the pegging no longer doing it for you?” I asked. Her reply was thus: having a boyfriend validates my identity as a post-op transgender woman. Those were her exact words, and the conversation soon ended.

That conversation might have ended, but it created new questions in my mind. I am inquisitive, and a part of me wanted to understand how sexual orientations evolve. I researched and began reading many more books and asking transgender women who had done this surgery about their experiences. I found that gender affirmation is a reason why sexual orientation could change in transgender women. I will explain further.

Dysphoria means different things to different women. To a lot of transgender women, anything that reminds them of their natal anatomy causes grave dysphoria. Their feelings are valid. For these women, physical touch by their partners while pre-op could induce so much dysphoria. These women would rather hide that body part or be the submissive in the room to alleviate these feelings of dysphoria. I have heard transgender women tell me that they prefer making love in the dark and tucking that body part far away from the sight or touch. To other trans women, having male partners after gender-affirmation surgery helps alleviate dysphoria and helps affirm their womanhood. I suspect that is why the post-op trans woman I spoke about earlier noticed a change in attraction. It stemmed from a deep need to feel validated and not from hormonal or biological changes due to HRT. I must stress that these experiences are valid, and I am writing to affirm everyone’s experience. On my site, every expression of your gender is welcome. I advise you to be open about it and know that sharing helps you and other trans women who feel alienated.

Then there was the second group of trans women I encountered while researching. Before transitioning and in the earlier transition period, they were women-loving. What changed, I asked them? The responses I got varied. Many admitted suddenly finding men attractive and picking on male pheromones they had never picked before. Many attributed estrogen to changing their thoughts and even the videos they found erotically appealing to them. This group attributed estrogen effects to this shift in their attraction. Surprisingly, there could be scientific backing. Higher estrogen levels could create feedback on the part of the brain responsible for sexual attraction. HRT affects different body parts differently. Some women could notice a biochemical affinity to masculinity because of estrogen.

Now that is probably a lot to digest. However, the complete biology of sexual attraction and sexual orientation is developing. We know only but a few answers. One thing research tends to back up is that hormones do not change behaviors. Hormones influence the receptors. They change the probability that a particular stimulus elicits a specific response. That could explain why even though hormones do not change behaviors in some transgender women, they could create feelings of attraction when they notice masculine men. The study of hormones and their influence on behavior is abundant in behavioral endocrinology. I am a nursing student, and so, I can only explain the basis. I know how hormones affect receptors ( sensory, intermediate, and efferent receptors. They bring about a particular behavior in response to stimuli present). The complex interaction in the nervous system enables mating and reproduction in many animals. Since there is knowledge of the effects of hormones in these behaviors, it is easy to understand that estrogen could change sexual attraction.

To wrap up, if estrogen affected your sexual attraction or orientation in any way, you are valid. However that happened, you owe no one explanation. However, I see so many nuances when we discuss the impact of estrogen on transgender women. We need the medical community to research more about the LGBT community. I am adding my influence to the discussions by writing these articles. But if they took us more seriously, they would perhaps learn a thing or two about the uniqueness of diversity.

You are valid. Do not have self-doubt when you start getting attracted to men. They are humans too, and they can be fun too. Hopefully, these shifting attractions remove the internalized homophobia and transphobia many transgender women have. You are now a woman -sometimes a queen desires a king. HAHAHAHA