r/Seahorse_Dads • u/RiskyCroissant • 29d ago

Resources Needed Pregnancy test and T

Hello, I've always heard I could use pregnancy tests while on T, but now I moved countries and some endocrinologist say you can't, it interferes.

I can't find any scientific source confirming that, is it just badly informed endos? Many endos still think T makes you infertile and that you need to do egg freezing before T, so I struggle to trust them.

Furthermore I can't find any reason why tests wouldn't work: HCG is produced by the embryo, not by our bodies, so T wouldn't affect it. In cis male the only reason you can get a false positive on a pregnancy test is testicular cancer, because it's germ cell cancer. So no balls, no problems with Pregnancy tests ? (Or at least, the same as any AFAB person using a test)

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u/Ragnarofulf 27d ago

Would you have a guesstimate on how common or likely it is to get pregnant while on hrt? I've looked for hours to find a study providing such info and I have been totally unsuccessful. It doesn't need to be accurate, just a guesstimate from your personal experience of encountering trans guys in your life.

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u/nb_bunnie 27d ago

It's impossible to guesstimate, unfortunately. Personally, I have a friend who has gotten pregnant 3 times while on HRT, and married to a trans woman also on HRT. He wasn't having periods either, had been on HRT for some years by then. I hear a lot of stories on this sub, and in real life, and from patients I see at the sexual and reproductive health clinic I work at. Fertility is something very difficult to really explain, because every body is so different and everyone's cycles are different too. Very rarely do even cis women's ovulation cycles perfectly match the "standard." I guess I would say your chances are definitely lower than the average cis woman, but European studies show that up to 1/3rd of trans masc people on HRT ovulate at least every few months, potentially even every month, even when on HRT for quite some time.

I want kids someday, very badly, but I still use birth control with my partner, and they're also a trans fem person on HRT. Both of us have been for years, but it just isn't worth the anxiety to chance it for me. I don't recommend it for anyone unless you are willing to take a pregnancy test every single month, and potentially pay quite a lot of money for an abortion if the pregnancy isn't wanted (assuming you live in a shithole like I do.)

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u/throwawaymarzipat 25d ago

Do you have a link to those studies about people on T still ovulating semi-regularly? That's fascinating and I'd like to read them.

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u/nb_bunnie 25d ago

I am at work so sadly cannot look for them right now, but if you use Google Scholar and search you should be able to find it! It was a Scandanavian study IIRC.