Trans woman taking HRT tracks changes in face with selfie-a-day for eight months
A trans woman documented the physical changes in their face after eight months of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) - by taking a selfie every day.
Brendan McCann, 23, who goes by their original name as they have not yet socially transitioned, took a photograph every day since they started HRT in August last year - documenting the changes in their face across 266 images.
They started the photography project in a bid to give others the "confidence to start HRT."
A timelapse of 266 images shows how Brendan's physical appearance noticeably changes over a period of eight months.
Brendan, a video journalist, originally from, Devon, England, but now living in Fort Myers Florida, said: "The most rewarding part of my transition has been being able to share it with people and make a little piece of art out of it.
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Brendan pictured at the start of their journey (Brendan McCann / SWNS)
Brendan's transition over an eight month period (Brendan McCann / SWNS)"I've done video production and timelapse photography for a while, so I've had a lot of fun putting these time lapses together and seeing people enjoy them.
"The main reason trans people share timelines of their changes with HRT online is that people who are considering starting often go looking to see 'what will it do to me? I want to find someone who looked like me when they started'.
"Many timelines don't start with a person who looks fairly masculine and still has a beard, so I felt it was important to have it start from the beginning.
"I've gotten messages from people telling me that my video gave them the confidence to start HRT and that's very special.
Images show Brendan losing more and more facial hair on HRT (Brendan McCann / SWNS)
Brendan in the early days taking HRT (Brendan McCann / SWNS)"I wish I had had a video like this while I was figuring stuff out."
Brendan, who moved to Fort Myers when they were two, hasn't socially transitioned yet, which is one of the reasons why they are using their birth name.
Due to medical costs related to physically transitioning, Brendan will not be undergoing any surgery in the foreseeable future, but plans on getting laser hair removal.
Brendan said: "Physical changes take a few months to really show up and they're very minor at first.
"They are also contingent on having decent levels of estrogen and suppressed testosterone, among other things."
Brendan said it took about four months before their bloodwork came back with good levels that mimic female puberty.
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They said: "My medical transition is basically just HRT, which is more common than you would think for trans people."
Despite living in Florida, where Republicans are reportedly against transgender people, Brendan's experience as a trans person has been mainly positive.
They said: "The most surprising thing has been how supportive people have been, both online and in person.
"Most of my friends and immediate family know and no one has really taken it badly.
Brendan towards the end of eight months on HRT (Brendan McCann / SWNS)
Brendan after eight months on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (Brendan McCann / SWNS)"Being in a somewhat conservative part of Florida I was expecting more negativity.
"Even online, the TikTok algorithm has been very good at not showing my videos to too many transphobes.
"My comments sections are overwhelmingly positive and that surprised me."
Brendan does have concerns over the local government passing bills and legislation that could limit access to medicine and physical resources for trans people.
They said: "Minors already have a lot of barriers in the way of getting gender-affirming care even in states where the legislation is kind to them. So here it is almost impossible.
"Here in Florida they are about to pass a 'bathroom bill' which will ban trans people from using bathrooms in buildings that receive state funding.
"I didn't expect these changes to come so quickly and at some point in the near future it might make it necessary for me to leave the state.
"For me personally, as a transfeminine person, transitioning using estradiol and testosterone blockers my medications are not scheduled substances, so it would be fairly easy for me to order them from reputable pharmacies overseas and import them.
"If an all-out ban went into place, a lot of people would have to jump to that while they try to leave the state."
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