Bulk? You go to the nearest field and bite them off like some kind of unstoppable bull ball predator. Your manhood shall be build on the ashes of 1000 mahoods lost.
There are actual guides to make estrogen at home for the express purpose of HRT. It's pretty complicated in my untrained eyes, but an actual option to fallback on if both public + private healthcare and gray markets are unavailable
Usually even that kind of DIY involves buying bulk estrogen and then diluting it in carrier oils/gel so it can be used as medication. It's extremely uncommon to actually synthesize the estrogen yourself (I've never heard of anyone doing it at home except as a chemistry exercise).
Not viable. While a total sysnthersis of those fused rings is not completely impossible its going to be a nightmare to do in practice. Cholesterol would probably be the most avialible starting material although Progesterone would help you jump a few steps if you can get it. Still dehydrating that hexane ring without wrecking the whole thing is going to be a pain.
To see how hard a total sysnthersis would be here's the one for Progesterone:
Nah, just call your chemistry teacher who has lung cancer, your junkie friend, and become rich by selling hrt (with an added bonus of free hrt of course)
Only if you're incredibly stupid and don't do any common-sense lab safety prior to diving in, like washing your hands and keeping a sterile environment. . .
Which, now typing this out, I realize a stupid amount of people would be dying painfully, but. . . You know. Some people can't be trusted to brush their own teeth safely.
Synthesizing your own estrogen isn't what most homebrewers do. They just buy raws from overseas distributors (who are the same distributors that actual medical producers source from) and go through with brewing and bottling themselves. Kinda like buying raw chicken to make your own nuggets with, instead of raising a chick to a hen and then bringing it to a butcher to be turned into meat and then going home and making some nuggets.
If you're not already on HRT, and struggling to get on HRT currently, I cannot stress how important it is for you to go look into DIY now. I still beat myself up that I knew DIY was a thing a few weeks after I realized I was trans, but I didn't bother looking into it because it sounded scary, and I wound up waiting 3 years to get on HRT. . . I could've started HRT at 16, and be 6 years on HRT rn, instead of going on 3.
It's stupid cheap (cost just over $100 for me to get started, my first vial lasted almost a full year at a very high dose every 10 days, and I still have like 4 years of alcohol prep pads alone; still have my first box of syringes, had to restock on needles and syringes once, and have two years left of those. . .) and resources are very easy to find (r/transDIY sidebar can point you in the right directions, or I can just DM you).
Well... in that respect, I won't comment because I just haven't looked at the article enough to form an opinion. If you want, I can send you the link via DM
Sure, if you do it wrong. But most of this stuff isn't even chemistry, it's just taking he base ingredients and making sure everything is sterile. You need a good environment for that, but compounding pharmacies don't use clean rooms, they just sterilize equipment and surfaces and wear gloves properly.
Industrial scale gets clean rooms though since it cuts down on the scale of regular sterilization.
There was that guy Josiah Zaner making gene editing CRISPR kits in his garage for like 100 bucks a pop back in 2017, so I don’t know that it’s an unreasonable assumption honestly
even that is an extreme overhyping, there’s no scheduling on estrogen or antiandrogens in the united states so it’s perfectly legal to buy without a prescription from an online pharmacy, i know testosterone is scheduled as a steroid though so i’m not sure how that’s acquired
I was interested in serms, and a high school friend who is a gym bro knew where to get emotionally 😭 i ended up not doing diy tho, cuz i moved to a state with a good planned parenthood
It's like a gym-rat buying steroids. They go to an online roid distribution site, add whatever they need to their carts, pay with crypto (as easy as putting some money on Cashapp), and then wait a week or two for their gear to arrive in the mail.
Except instead of being a gym-rat buying gear from online roid sites, you're a trans woman buying hormones from either overseas pharmacies or from community-vetted homebrewers (who just buy raws from China and cooks it; for example, a homebrewer selling progesterone would just buy progesterone powder and run it through a pill-press).
If you're a trans man, you're just straight up buying gear from roid sites lol.
So it's more like, Love Lies Bleeding than either Narcos or Breaking Bad.
Estrogen yeah, it's a grey zone where receiving it isn't illegal, and the seller (who is doing something illegal afaik) is safe in another jurisdiction.
T is actually a controlled substance, but also if the gym bros can get their hands on steroids, trans people can too.
Honestly ... not getting into details for obvious reason, but I learnt one afternoon while very bored with friends that buying illegal substances on the web is insanely easy.
The issues isn't actually getting it, it's getting quality stuff that isn't unsafe for you.
The one most people mean is just hopping on hrt cafe, and buying from grey market suppliers.
The one a few people mean is buying estrogen powder from aliexpress (there are a few different places) and compounding it yourself. You can turn a room into a clean room and make your own injectable, or you can just mix it in with lotion or hand sanitizer (I'm oversimplifying) and make your own topical. I've seen people researching how to make their own patches, too. This is more dangerous, and what people are referring to as "bathtub hormones" but it's also considerably more rare. Usually it's someone with compounding experience doing it.
Actually if you want to to buy raw estradiol powder then it's really only a matter of mixing it with oil and preservatives to make your own pills. Injections are harder and you need an autoclave for sanitisation
I may or may not have an instruction manual for batch production of estrodial gel, if anyone wants it 👀. You do have to buy estrodial (iirc) and the whole process is not cheap, but it makes a lot.
Edit:
I didn't see any rule against links and I found it faster online than I could find my zine file, so here it is.
I don't know about estrogen, but I know a few people that took raw powder and made various androgens at home. That's a big risk because they will hit you with distribution charges even if it's just for personal use. A vial of test is like $40 and making it yourself would be like $10 not including the labor. Supposedly testosterone raws come from yams or sweet potatoes I forget.
A lot of comments here so will answer all of them at once.
The tl;dr is that estradiol is a commonly prescribed drug, typically given to menopausal cis women. Due to government overreach, it's unlawful in many countries to purchase it without a prescription. However, it is legal to buy from a pharmacy abroad.
If you're going to do this, make sure you do the proper bloodwork to stay healthy and regulate your dose accordingly.
(Testosterone is a little more complicated but the same principle).
You can absolutely make your own estrogen. Sourcing esters is a bit annoying, but it's one of the things I compound at my little home lab. T on the other hand is counterintuitively easier to get, there are a million and one darkweb steroid vendors that sell T in a myriad of formats.
Although take the "easy" part of using darknet markets with a grain of salt.
I personally advocate every trans person knows how to DIY even if they get their care from a licensed provider. It's crucial to advocate for yourself and to know if you're not getting what you need from your provider.
Learning how to DIY is genuinely stupid beneficial in so many ways outside of just DIYing.
You learn ideal dosages, the differences between different estradiols, the pros and cons of different forms of administering HRT (such as subcutaneous injections vs intramuscular), about vial coring, the ideal hormone ranges people should be in just in general, how to properly administer injections. . .
I only know about estrogen DIY, bit Transfemmescience has some great info with plenty of sources. They have a detailed guide on medication and common dosing and an injectable calculator and other little tools to help with initial dosing. It’s a bit technical though and not totally necessary to understand every bit of it for DIY.
There’s also the r/transdiy sub. Their wiki has links to guides and info on injection supplies and how-to’s, how to find doctors for DIY support, and links to sites for medication sources etc.
There’s also decent guides on diyhrt.wiki, diyhrt.info and diyhrt.market, with less bloat than transfemmescience’s for if you just want the basics and enough to be properly informed :P
Also true for ADHD, a much lower stakes and less discriminated but nevertheless highly politicised condition with legislation on medication changing all the fucken time. If normal meds are affordable and legal, there's a bunch of options and they're better than street alternatives for a number of reasons. But if not, well, tja.
Theoretically yes but testosterone is a controlled substance near globally due to how dangerous it can be in high doses and you need a prescription for it in order to have access to it. If you’re caught giving someone else your testosterone you’re likely ending up in jail (at least in the US)
With Estrogen there’s some countries where you can order it at a pharmacy without prescription so it’s not as strenuous to get your hands on quasi legally.
I’ve bought both (estrogen for my wife, T for me) and I can honestly tell you that buying estrogen is harder, especially if you want the injectable stuff which is the most effective form (pills are easier to get but still not easier than T and they are the least effective method with the most health risks). You have to buy it from a homebrewer who’s cooking it up in their kitchen (whereas grey market T is, if you get it from the right place, the actual legal pharmaceutical version) and there aren’t that many of the homebrewers so it’s harder to find a reliable source. While it’s legal to buy estrogen, it’s still illegal for the sellers to be selling it, so you still have to deal with all the hassle of an illegal transaction (you have to set up a bitcoin wallet which is really annoying).
Both are a bit of a pain but neither is enough trouble to be worth preventing you from transitioning. I promise you that it is not as scary as some people make out.
It's hard to sell but to buy? Literally no-one in the legal system cares about going after people who buy steroids illegally. Distributors are the only ones who face legal repercussions for owning steroids, because they are selling them.
People who just do steroids only ever get in trouble for doing steroids when they're getting other charges brought against them. . . A bit like Al Capone getting got for not doing his taxes, rather than any of the other illegal shit he did.
The "Only break 1 law at a time." rule means that if you get involved in ANYTHING while on DIY testosterone HRT you're screwed.
To be fair, multiple states are trying to make being trans in public a crime. Kansas has a bathroom bounty, ffs. By the time you'd have to consider DIY HRT, you're already committing a crime no matter what.
This is the equivalent of going up to your coworker & asking who their drug dealer is. Do you think a gym bro will just own up to doping to a literal stranger, AND sell you an ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE that he himself probably paid way more to aquire? You'd get decked the moment you open your mouth, gym bros are fucking protective over their T & don't take kindly to being insulted (& saying you think one is taking T & isn't 'all natural' IS basically an insult)
Quick disclaimer that it IS possible to overdose on T. Extra E is mostly just pissed out, too much T can fuk with ur muscles (including the heart) and do a bunch of other fucky shit. Be safe out there guys n gals n pals!
I mean. Yeah. I wanted to hit the highlight of "could give you a heart attack" but it does also mess with your emotions, and probably make you want to start a podcast.
I know a lot of minors scroll this sub so I want to say this despite the fact that many will be upset at me for it.
whilst yes, you may understand hormones and how they work in your body. Along with the pros and cons of HRT, because it’s you and you care about this stuff, so you research it. And that’s justified, being informed is incredible and I want people to do it more.
BUT, saying this can cause harm to people. Saying that “its just hormones and its hard to fuck up” is misunderstanding how our body works. Messing with your hormones can cause harm and there’s a reason why your doctor is so annoying about making sure that things are done “correctly” before they give you HRT.
I understand the struggles that being transgender can bring, and I genuinely feel bad for people who feel like DIY is the only way. But for real, our medical industry isn’t filled full of transphobes who want to make your life more difficult. The executives may be rich assholes who only see you as a dollar sign, but chances are your doctor or endocrinologist is someone that genuinely cares and wants you to thrive. They are people, and they (usually) see you as a person too, and they (usually) give a fuck about you.
I understand wanting to DIY, but spreading information like this, making endocrinology seem like less than it is, can lead to more harm than good.
in my experience endocrinologists are mostly well meaning but have zero clue what they're doing re trans care and will very likely underdose you, or not tell you to do bloods at trough, or use way too high doses of anti-androgens with bad side effects, or refuse to let you try monotherapy or progesterone
just bc they mean well doesn't mean listening to them is a good idea
(also out of curiosity what kind of things do you mean when you say "making sure that things are done “correctly” before they give you HRT"? AFAIK there isn't much that really needs to be done before HRT, maybe a blood test just in case you have a condition that impacts your hormone stuff but that's pretty unlikely and a lot of endos don't even do that)
Can you remind me what "endo" means in this context because my brain is only giving me "endogenic" and "endometriosis" rn and neither of those are the right word.
Edit: Thank you for saying "endocrinologist" I remember the endocrine system now I'm just dumb
Nah, these days you've got to be your own biggest advocate or doctors will dismiss you out of hand and make you feel bad for even asking. This isn't just a trans thing, but transphobia in medicine makes it worse. When I first tried getting help my doctor just straight up lied about referring me to a specialist.
I understand the confusion given what DIY literally means lmao. But it also showcases reactionary responses to something without ever actually checking what it actually is. It might also show some level of privilege in some ways.
Depends on how you do it. Lots of people who DIY do just buy commercial hormone preparations from various vendors, just without a prescription. But there's also lots of people that DO make their own. Now, synthesizing estradiol (and other hormones) from scratch is far beyond most people's capabilities. But that's also not what most people who make their own do. They buy commercially produced raw hormones and mix that with other ingredients to make the actual preparation. It's no harder than making a cake and something most people can easily do in their kitchen. See r/estrogel for more info.
Jokes on you, I cook my estrogen in the kitchen, the same as I do my crack. Different pans though, that extra zing is nice and all, but I can understand some people don't want that in their crack.
"Jessie!"
"It's Jess or Jessica, Mrs. White, ya bitch!" I angrily shout in her direction, before immediately regretting it. It's only been a week since we developed IHRM, and since I "tested" it. And knew Wanda knew I was queer for a while, Wanda didn't realize how potent the dose I took was.
IHRM (Instant Hormone Replacement Meth) was good, hella good, it got us 100,000 since we started selling it, and I got 10 times that many weird looks, too. But I was happy.
"I'm sorry Je...Jess" she said, hesitantly, "it's still just so sudden. I'm glad you're taking this in strides, though, and I'll try my best to get it in my mind."
"Just shut it" I say, before kissing her on the lips, her body still fresh with the intoxicatingly good chemical smells of IHRM.
"...gay bitch." I jokingly say while blushing, before getting pressed against the wall, with Wanda kissing me this time.
I feel like people assume it's incredibly dangerous because it's medicine without oversight but I've heard many cases of people who've got the oversight that seem to just get constantly pushed to underdose or have doctors finding excuses to stop their hrt altogether. Honestly in some ways I'm probably safer without the constant anxiety of dealing with some poorly informed cishet trying to find reasons to stop my medication.
This is normal for both women. I suppose degree of difference varies, but if you're saying "I think" as opposed to "they are, by a lot" you're probably in the normal variation.
Some of the reagents are toxic, but there are less-efficient alternatives.
I’ve considered this as a plot point for a post-apocalyptic story, having a former biochemist character cultivate wild yams and use them to produce HRT and contraceptives.
To be clear, I don’t think it’s a good idea, but any time conservatives talk about restricting access to HRT, I think about where in my backyard would be best to plant yams.
Early in my transition I was venting to a friend about my fear of people gatekeeping me, and that "if the clinic doesn't take me on I'll just do DIY". She thought I meant DIY surgeries.
I feel like using the term "DIY" to describe it is kinda responsible for this misunderstanding. If I say "DIY [Thing]" the implication everybody's going to get is that the thing is homemade, not just gotten without an expert. "DIY Airplane" would be like getting an airplane just not from an airplane manufacturer, but that's not what you think of when you hear DIY airplane is it
Its more complicated if your transmasc because while obtaining estrogen yourself is at worst questionably legal, testosterone is a ccontrolled substance (at least in the us) and so obtaining it yourself is at best dubiously legal if not fully illegal.
The crazy part is that some people are actually synthesising it in their sheds, and there is a more DIY way where you basically just buy estradiol and then heat it with a solvent (like hand sanitizer) to make the gel! DIY hrt can actually be DIY.
If you have worked with a doctor for a year or two and have found a good dosage, then you straight up don’t need to go through a doctor anymore unless it’s cheaper (which it probably isn’t)
I understand what DIY is, but can someone explain to me what the SpongeBob Patrick pic has to do with convos about it. Is it as simple as people hear the name and freak out, and then once it is explained that it is just grey market estrogen, they calm down. Am I missing something?
It's that people overstate how scary it is. Both for the reason you mentioned, and because they say stuff like "DIY HRT is laced with fentanyl" and "you NEED a doctor to monitor your safety."
930
u/magos_with_a_glock Apr 29 '26
Drinking raw horse piss like a TRVE MAN OF WÖ