Hormone Therapy and Uratha

This might be pushing some of the sensibilities of some people,  but,  we all know Uratha have rather potent metabolisms and immune systems.  I know that coffee, chocolate,  etc can have quite negative affects on Uratha.  Yet,  the real question that I’m curious to ask is how would the change affect a transsexual.  The transition from one gender to the other involves more then merely plastic surgery,  a heavy regimen of hormones are used to assist in the change.  How would the Uratha metabolism affect this,  I’m rather tempted to say that it would begin to negate the affects, though I’m not entirely sure.

When this came up in my Chronicle once, we basically came to two possible avenues of approach.

- "Mother fixes everything"- The First Change and associated regenerative abilities would cause a werewolf's physiology to match their gender identity thereafter.

or, alternatively, and we found this made a better plothook:

It makes transition even harder: Hormones would have no effect, and regeneration rejected any attempts at plastic surgery.
The Uratha in question got little deranged and obsessive in finding a rite or possibly a spirit to help him. It was an interesting, to say the least.

Honestly, I'd choose the second option mentioned, as the werewolf isn't actually human. At best, the changes would leave scars and such in other forms. However, a gift to allow the werewolf the ability to truly alter gender really does fit their mercurial nature. On finding that, no surgery ever be needed again. I was actually writing up a Fertility gift list that included such, at one point. Other sorts of lists that might hold it would be transmutation or adaptation. If appearance more than substance is fitting, a glamor/image sort of list would work, too.

For the mean time, while the character is searching for that rare and elusive gift, there is always that Skin Stealing gift from Mother Luna.

Honestly? Mundane tranformation techniques would fail.

however... i don't see the ability to change gender as being any more fantastic then the ability to change from a wolf to a human and back again. The Luna gifts out of the core include a gift that allows a werewolf to change into other animals, and i don't see why it couldn't be house ruled to allow transformation into alternative genders.

Are hormones metabolized though?

I don't know how that works but something seems to me that if you want to maintain the supernatural that meets science angle then it might be something to look into.

GhostSong:

Are hormones metabolized though?

I don't know how that works but something seems to me that if you want to maintain the supernatural that meets science angle then it might be something to look into.

Not like nutrients.  It's comparable to feeling the effects of adrenalin when you get startled; it's a chemical signal.  The molecules fit into receptors on cells and cause genes to up-express or down-express various proteins (which may include other chemical messengers that do the same thing to help spread out the signal).  They will not be picked off by the immune system, but are typically on negative feedback loops with other chemical messaging systems (meaning that adverse effects will trigger a counter-balancing effort from another "chemical circuit").  With gender reassignment efforts, the end result is likened to experiencing another round of adolescence.

Actually I have another question,  a MtF character probably smells more male then female right?

Winter Night:

Actually I have another question,  a MtF character probably smells more male then female right?

I can't really say for certain, but if the wolf in question is basing an estimate off of hormone levels, and said character is on hormone therapy, then no.

Hard to say.  Dogs are trained to respond to certain scents, but gender isn't really one of them.  Not that it can't be done, it's just not entirely practical.  We use dogs to track down people, drugs, explosives, other chemicals, but not specific genders. 

However, I know that, from my own personal experience, a dog, particularly a "scent dog" like a bloodhound, can pick out all the different ingrediants to be found in a typical cheeseburger.  If you were to separate it all, scatter each part across a warehouse or someplace, and the dog were trained to hunt down each specific ingrediant, chances are he'd find them all.  So it's entirely possible that a dog can pick up genders. 

Wayfinder:

Hard to say.  Dogs are trained to respond to certain scents, but gender isn't really one of them.  Not that it can't be done, it's just not entirely practical.  We use dogs to track down people, drugs, explosives, other chemicals, but not specific genders. 

However, I know that, from my own personal experience, a dog, particularly a "scent dog" like a bloodhound, can pick out all the different ingrediants to be found in a typical cheeseburger.  If you were to separate it all, scatter each part across a warehouse or someplace, and the dog were trained to hunt down each specific ingrediant, chances are he'd find them all.  So it's entirely possible that a dog can pick up genders. 

Which would give off different chemicals.  Change the chemical content (say, by taking in hormones, for example), fool the chemosensor.

Pheromones are natures way of screaming "I'm male" or "I'm female," as appropriate. Canids can smell that, and react accordingly. Humans are also wired to tell the difference by scent. Even a rodent will react to human gender cues in sweat. It's pretty a common signal.

The answer to the question, however, eludes me. I would estimate that the result of hormone therapy is a bit muddled. Certainly at first, but I'm guessing even in the long-term some subtle differences remain. It largely depends on what stage of development those scents are set at. If, as I suspect, the scent is set at puberty, the chances are good that hormone therapy can cause the pheromones to shift almost entirely after they stabilize. If it's early, like the plumbing, hormone therapy isn't going to do squat, since those genes tend to latch.

I have a question, is hormone therapy something that must be done forever more, or is the body eventually able to perpetuate it's altered state?

If the former, I would say easily that the Uratha's enhanced metabolism and regeneration make the treatments useless. If the latter, I would say that if the First Change occurs after that point has been reached, the Uratha's enhanced metabolism and regeneration will transform them into a true member of the sex that they are portraying.

I agree with those stating that medical means of sex reassignment aren't going to be an option for the Uratha  but mystical/spiritual means are potentially open to them instead.

wolfman1911:

I have a question, is hormone therapy something that must be done forever more, or is the body eventually able to perpetuate it's altered state?

If the former, I would say easily that the Uratha's enhanced metabolism and regeneration make the treatments useless. If the latter, I would say that if the First Change occurs after that point has been reached, the Uratha's enhanced metabolism and regeneration will transform them into a true member of the sex that they are portraying.

Some of each. As previously mentioned, some features are latches. Women shift into a near-male hormone roster at menopause, which is why these things are a bit directional. The wiki entries are fairly accurate for what I learned.

Hormone replacement therapy (male-to-female)
Hormone replacement therapy (female-to-male)

wolfman1911:

If the former, I would say easily that the Uratha's enhanced metabolism

That would technically make the hormones do their work faster.  These aren't disease-causing bacteria we're talking about, as I reiterate, but chemicals your body uses to establish various states.  What you're proposing is like saying that Uratha won't be affected by adrenalin because of their regenerative capabilities.