Medical Questions » Breasts, Female Questions » Question No. 172
| Question: | I am 17 years old with very small breasts. The other night on the TV news there was a female model who used to be a man. This person had breasts of normal size. Why is it that an ex-male can have larger breasts than a naturally born woman? Are there hormones available to increase your breast size? |
| Answer: | Men who wish to change their sex do so by taking large doses of female hormones (oestrogen). Men possess breast tissue, but usually in a residual form. If this is stimulated by female hormones, the breast tissue will start enlarging in the same way as that of a teenage girl. Some teenage boys develop small breasts for a few months due to a temporary imbalance in their hormone levels.
When you start your periods and start developing breasts, it is because your ovaries start producing female hormones. Some women have breast tissue that is larger in quantity, and/or more sensitive to these hormones than other women, and they develop large breasts. The reverse can also occur. The tendency to large or small breasts is hereditary, so that if your mother and grandmother had small breasts, your chance of doing the same is quite high.
Large breasts can also be caused by obesity.
From my male doctor perspective, I feel that women with very large breasts are at a much greater disadvantage than those with small breasts, in both appearance and personal comfort.
It would be possible to increase your breast size by taking large doses of female hormone, but the side effects on the other parts of your body that respond to this hormone (the womb, ovaries and vagina) would be significant, and you would be strongly advised not to take this course.
A moderate increase in breast size can often be achieved by taking the oral contraceptive pill. During and after a pregnancy, your breast size increases significantly, and some of this increase may persist after feeding ceases. Small-breasted women can breast feed just as easily as those with large breasts.
In the long run, if you feel that your small breasts are a significant cosmetic problem, it is possible to have plastic surgery to increase their size. This is a far better option than taking hormones that may have harmful complications. Any such surgery should be delayed until you are in your early twenties, as some breast growth is possible in your late teens.
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