Hello all, I guess I'll give a bit of backstory for context. I've been chemically a eunuch for four years now, since july 2022. Rather than the reasons most people have like a sense of identity or not wanting to feel horny or things like that, I was rapidly going bald and wanted to save my hair. So i went from Finasteride (only stopped progress) -> androgen blockers -> estradiol injections (which is what grew it back, though I don't personally identify as trans). Well, now I'm hitting a point where I'm wanting to move back to where I'm from, except my home state has been massively cracking down on this kind of stuff as of recently. In the last couple of years I've kept this idea in my back pocket but I think its finally time to figure out how to shut the testosterone factory down in case I ever have to give up doing this chemically, because i dont wanna lose all my progress. I don't want kids and after 4 years of effects, I'm fine with the idea. That being said, I'm wondering if anyone can help me with 2 ideas...
1 - Is there any legal route to getting this done for a broke person? Im in US-CA currently and have insurance. I can't help but feel like I'd seem crazy just walking in somewhere and asking for an orchiectomy, especially since my insurance would likely reject it. Is there some sort of pathway to getting this done? Again, I've been doing this DIY for about 4 years. Surely that must help to make my case? But if not, then...
2 - I'm curious about the alcohol method. Both here and where I'm from, the 190 proof everclear isn't legally sold. I would either have to find something else or travel to a state where its legal to sell retail and bring it back (it isnt illegal to simply own). That being said, is 190 EC the only option for this method? If not, would any other types of drinking alcohol in particular do the job? and also, is there any sort of measurements and schedules to follow when doing this method?
P.S - I did read the WPATH SOC. I've been lurking here a while and tried to lurk the old EA without an account as much as I could. Most of what I know comes from HLT and the now deleted reddit communities. Thank you for any help, it is really appreciated.
New here... need some guidance
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PacificBlues
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- Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2026 6:10 pm
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Re: New here... need some guidance
As someone well versed in pharmaceuticals, though admittedly I don't really deal with sex hormones professionally, I have never heard of someone taking estradiol injections for male pattern baldness- Was this prescribed for this reason or under false pretenses? Or was this a DIY type deal? I can't imagine any insurance paying for such medications for treatment of male pattern baldness. I find it interesting that you as a man would undergo the feminizing effects of estradiol to prevent balding, but to each their own.
A couple thoughts:
1) It's not advised to be hypogonadal- having essentially no T or E in your system, you need one or the other, even if its a low dose- there's an extensive list of long term serious health implications to being a eunuch without hormone replacement. So regardless of what you do, you will need some form of hormone replacement. 1) If you have private insurance you may be able to use it out of state, in which case you could continue getting your medications through your presumably legal route.
2) If you have been on Estradiol and anti-androgens (at least most anti-androgens) for 4 years, your testosterone levels and could take up to a few years to recover to their full potential- which may be well below what your baseline would have been having not taken these meds. Estradiol and stronger anti-androgens can permanently affect androgen levels. This is especially true if you're older.
3) If you have private insurance in public insurance (medicaid) on one of these "red states", yes, you cannot get an orchiectomy paid for unlike CA under gender affirmation*. That said- if you move to a new state post orchiectomy, *I believe* medicaid would probably still have to cover hormone replacement as medical necessity- they may only cover Testosterone though unless your doctor can give a good reason why you should be on Estradiol. You could try low dose T.
4) If you have private insurance you should be able to continue getting "gender affirming care" so long as it's billed as "gender affirming care"- the legislation only pertains to medicaid AFAIK. If for some reason local providers refuse, you may be able to use your private insurance out of state depending on the plan's network and flexibility.
I HIGHLY ADVISE you not to inject your testicles with anything. While sure it's probably *relatively safer* than other methods people seem to use, it's still dangerous- you risk infection, necrosis, limb loss, sepsis, alcohol toxicity, vital organ damage, etc. Death. All serious complications. Just don't do it. (I can't tell you the amount of tragedies I've seen professionally as a result of people injecting *** into their bodies, completely unaware of how dangerous it can be)
Considerations:
- Have you tried Dutasteride? It's similar to Finasteride but it blocks like 98% of DHT versus 70%. DHT (dihydrogentestosterone). DHT has androgenic effects as testosterone but is 3-4x more potent. It is most associated with male balding over testosterone. Testosterone is actually more associated with promoting body hair growth and is not usually a factor in hair loss, despite the common assumption it is.
- Minoxidil? It takes a while to work but it does provide improvement by improving blood flow to the scalp.
- There's other less known options steroid injections, laser therapy, PRP, not to mention hair transplants in Turkey (all probably very expensive as it's cosmetic)
- Topical Ketokonazole (anti-fungal) also blocks DHT, it comes in creams, shampoos. There's also topical estradiol cream some doctor might prescribe off-label. Typically this is used for vaginal atrophy Both of these are cheap- Off the top of my head <$25/month out of pocket. Topical estradiol can have systemic feminizing effects though unlikely to the extent for injections- but that doesn't seem like a major concern.
As someone exploring becoming a eunuch myself, though not for hair loss reasons- I'm fortunate to not have that problem unlike many of the other men in my family, I have done some research on this. The definition of "Eunuch" is very quirky and not logically consistent, but WPATH does recognize Eunuchs as a gender identity or subset of non-binary, gender non-conforming, etc, etc. Some researchers refer to Male-to-Eunuch Gender Identity Disorder- though not an ICD or DSM coded diagnosis.While I don't consider myself as a non-binary, transgender, etc (I feel like those words typically represent a very different community and I would still consider and present myself a man if castrated), it's probably the easiest way to access this treatment.
To be clear however, if you're only reason for seeking orchiectomy is to maintain your hair health, that's purely a cosmetic justification. No insurance will cover an orchiectomy for purely cosmetic reasons. That's the case with any cosmetic procedure... unless it's related to "reconstruction" or medical necessity. And tbh I can't see any credible prescriber prescribing Estradiol or ordering an Orchio for that reason. If you have other reasons to seek orchiectomy and/or estradiol I would be honest with your providers- or if not maybe it's worth something investigating further with a therapist? If this is purely about cosmetics and you want to play the game of saying the right thing for insurance coverage, I'm not going to say you should do that, but people do such things in our healthcare system.
TLDR
- You will still need hormone replacement of some type (T or E), even at low levels, to maintain good longterm health. So when it comes to longterm hormone coverage, you may still be in the same boat you're in now even with orchiectomy.
- Cosmetic procedures or treatments are never covered by insurance unless there's an underlying medical necessity (ie gender affirmation) or a reconstructive requirement. Balding treatment is the textbook definition of cosmetic treatment.
- DON'T INJECT YOURSELF WITH ANYTHING EVER- (unless it's a sterile, legitimate pharmaceutical product prescribed by a prescriber and you're properly instructed on how to use safely. And injecting directly into a delicate organ like the testicle carries tremendously more risk over subcutaneous or intramuscular injection)
A couple thoughts:
1) It's not advised to be hypogonadal- having essentially no T or E in your system, you need one or the other, even if its a low dose- there's an extensive list of long term serious health implications to being a eunuch without hormone replacement. So regardless of what you do, you will need some form of hormone replacement. 1) If you have private insurance you may be able to use it out of state, in which case you could continue getting your medications through your presumably legal route.
2) If you have been on Estradiol and anti-androgens (at least most anti-androgens) for 4 years, your testosterone levels and could take up to a few years to recover to their full potential- which may be well below what your baseline would have been having not taken these meds. Estradiol and stronger anti-androgens can permanently affect androgen levels. This is especially true if you're older.
3) If you have private insurance in public insurance (medicaid) on one of these "red states", yes, you cannot get an orchiectomy paid for unlike CA under gender affirmation*. That said- if you move to a new state post orchiectomy, *I believe* medicaid would probably still have to cover hormone replacement as medical necessity- they may only cover Testosterone though unless your doctor can give a good reason why you should be on Estradiol. You could try low dose T.
4) If you have private insurance you should be able to continue getting "gender affirming care" so long as it's billed as "gender affirming care"- the legislation only pertains to medicaid AFAIK. If for some reason local providers refuse, you may be able to use your private insurance out of state depending on the plan's network and flexibility.
I HIGHLY ADVISE you not to inject your testicles with anything. While sure it's probably *relatively safer* than other methods people seem to use, it's still dangerous- you risk infection, necrosis, limb loss, sepsis, alcohol toxicity, vital organ damage, etc. Death. All serious complications. Just don't do it. (I can't tell you the amount of tragedies I've seen professionally as a result of people injecting *** into their bodies, completely unaware of how dangerous it can be)
Considerations:
- Have you tried Dutasteride? It's similar to Finasteride but it blocks like 98% of DHT versus 70%. DHT (dihydrogentestosterone). DHT has androgenic effects as testosterone but is 3-4x more potent. It is most associated with male balding over testosterone. Testosterone is actually more associated with promoting body hair growth and is not usually a factor in hair loss, despite the common assumption it is.
- Minoxidil? It takes a while to work but it does provide improvement by improving blood flow to the scalp.
- There's other less known options steroid injections, laser therapy, PRP, not to mention hair transplants in Turkey (all probably very expensive as it's cosmetic)
- Topical Ketokonazole (anti-fungal) also blocks DHT, it comes in creams, shampoos. There's also topical estradiol cream some doctor might prescribe off-label. Typically this is used for vaginal atrophy Both of these are cheap- Off the top of my head <$25/month out of pocket. Topical estradiol can have systemic feminizing effects though unlikely to the extent for injections- but that doesn't seem like a major concern.
As someone exploring becoming a eunuch myself, though not for hair loss reasons- I'm fortunate to not have that problem unlike many of the other men in my family, I have done some research on this. The definition of "Eunuch" is very quirky and not logically consistent, but WPATH does recognize Eunuchs as a gender identity or subset of non-binary, gender non-conforming, etc, etc. Some researchers refer to Male-to-Eunuch Gender Identity Disorder- though not an ICD or DSM coded diagnosis.While I don't consider myself as a non-binary, transgender, etc (I feel like those words typically represent a very different community and I would still consider and present myself a man if castrated), it's probably the easiest way to access this treatment.
To be clear however, if you're only reason for seeking orchiectomy is to maintain your hair health, that's purely a cosmetic justification. No insurance will cover an orchiectomy for purely cosmetic reasons. That's the case with any cosmetic procedure... unless it's related to "reconstruction" or medical necessity. And tbh I can't see any credible prescriber prescribing Estradiol or ordering an Orchio for that reason. If you have other reasons to seek orchiectomy and/or estradiol I would be honest with your providers- or if not maybe it's worth something investigating further with a therapist? If this is purely about cosmetics and you want to play the game of saying the right thing for insurance coverage, I'm not going to say you should do that, but people do such things in our healthcare system.
TLDR
- You will still need hormone replacement of some type (T or E), even at low levels, to maintain good longterm health. So when it comes to longterm hormone coverage, you may still be in the same boat you're in now even with orchiectomy.
- Cosmetic procedures or treatments are never covered by insurance unless there's an underlying medical necessity (ie gender affirmation) or a reconstructive requirement. Balding treatment is the textbook definition of cosmetic treatment.
- DON'T INJECT YOURSELF WITH ANYTHING EVER- (unless it's a sterile, legitimate pharmaceutical product prescribed by a prescriber and you're properly instructed on how to use safely. And injecting directly into a delicate organ like the testicle carries tremendously more risk over subcutaneous or intramuscular injection)
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dandelion
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Re: New here... need some guidance
Dutasteride, minoxidil: both very good recommendations. Should definitely explore these alternative therapies before trying anything else.Swim_1650 wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2026 12:03 am not to mention hair transplants in Turkey (all probably very expensive as it's cosmetic)
A friend of mine went to Taiwan to get hair transplants. I don't remember him telling me it being very expensive.