I was originally going to type up some text here, but I think I will just let the original sources speak for themselves:
For info regarding DIY HRT for transfem and trasmasc people: https://diyhrt.wiki/
For info specifically regarding transfem HRT:
https://transfemscience.org/ (note for transfem people, you will most likely need estradiol and an anti-androgen, transmascs will usually be happy with just testosterone)
For sources of hormones: https://hrtcafe.net/
Hormones are typically bought from gray market sellers in countries where producing hormones and medicaments is not inherently illegal. Due to the nature of this work, you would need a cryptocurrency to anonymously pay them, though some accept card and bank transfers. I would strongly suggest using Monero crypto to pay because of its obfuscation preventing tracking - I will add more regarding this later. A personal rule of thumb: always consult with the seller over email before buying anything - they will advise you on the payment method, shipping, customs, costs, discounts, anything and everything. At the end, they're just people too.
Obviously, depending on where you are, this might be illegal or highly illegal. For example, in the country I used to live in, estradiol was a controlled substance. In most western countries, estradiol is not a controlled substance, but testosterone is. Nevertheless, if push comes to shove, and someone is prying into your shipment of hormones then you should play dumb - anyone can send a parcel to your house, and you paid with crypto - feign ignorance. Usually, no one cares, and I used to get my estrogen through the customs of the controlled-substance-country without any issues.
I would type more but I'm tired and I really don't remember what hurdles I had when I first started out. I just remember reading stuff for a couple of weeks before ordering what I need. I started out on estradiol tablets, and an anti-androgen called bicalutamide. Please read up on the common side effects first regarding anti-androgens, if that is the path you take. I also did gel and injections, so I can speak to that.
Ask questions below and I'll respond, and I'll also add stuff to this thread as I go. There's a subreddit called TransDIY, but I noticed it has a bunch of "newcomer questions" and not a lot of productive discussion. If you want to use that sub then I suggest using Google and typing "site:reddit.com/r/transdiy" first and then your query.
IDK how to @ people properly so I hope this works.. @Catradora_Stalinism@hexbear.net @Des@hexbear.net since you two expressed interest.
Goes without saying that if someone finds this thread in the far future and has a question then just drop a comment. I promise I'll reply.
On Monero (XMR)
Traditional cryptocurrency is easily traceable. The whole premise is that crypto's a logbook of who owns how much, and who sent how much. That's not very good if you want anonymity and untraceability. I understand the aversion this site has to crypto, but in this case, it is very cool and good and useful. I don't mind talking about this, so if you have any issues with this statement or any comments on anything written below, then just reply.
After all, if a big old company like Coinbase decided to look into a person, they'd see every transaction that person made from their site, they'd see the bank details that were given to them, the KYC (know your customer) details such as passport/government ID/proof of residence, etc. From there, if they look at the wallet address that the person of interest frequently uses (wallet address = string of gibberish that is basically your ID on the bitcoin/dogecoin/shitcoin "logbook", i.e. your name) they'll see the transaction chain, from buying crypto, to sending it to your .cafe plug. If you're unlucky, your E seller might also use Coinbase or (insert big crypto company that is definitely wiretapped by every fourteen-eyes government), and bam your transaction is linked directly to an illegal seller. If the seller themself is smart and isn't found out easily, then another government recourse is to run some heuristics to easily identify the people that a seller had dealings with from other info.
What's your saving grace? Your saving grace is that merely possessing HRT is not usually illegal in most countries. What's your bane? If you live in a backwards ******** and your government is a friend of UKUSA then they've got some easy additional charges they could bring against you in case you fuck up and break a law (or the seller fucks up, imagine if the government cared to go after spiffy's (an HRT plug that got shutdown) clients after she got found out). Using Monero significantly reduces your risk. It doesn't make sense to use it if you're in a well-off country that has better things to do, but if you're paranoid, you should 100% use it.
What is different in Monero vs the scam coins?
The reason it's better is that it's not an open logbook. Not everyone who ever looks at this can see who sent what to whom. Through the power of almost a hundred years of cryptographic research, Monero can obfuscate almost all information regarding your transaction. From the point of view of outside observers it's almost like you spent money to buy Monero, and then it disappeared into the ether. They can't tell what happens after that. For all LE knows you're just speculating stocks, not becoming a blahaj-connoisseur.
The reason it works is that the "wallet address" (the string of gibberish that is effectively your name or ID) that you give out to people can be compartmentalized. If you're receiving from Coinbase, you only give that address to Coinbase, and from there they can't track it. Then if you receive from Binance, you give them a different address (name/ID), but the coins all go into the same wallet. When you go to send the coins (pay for your product), the receiver also doesn't show up in this "logbook" in a way that is traceable. Coinbase/binance can't go tell the gbmint that X is buying Monero from us and sending it to Z, because all they know is that X bought from coinbase, and then another person Y bought some from binance, and they can't tell that Z received anything from anyone.
What do I need for Monero
I recommend using a GUI wallet for your PC (https://www.getmonero.org/downloads/#gui). You could also use the mobile wallets they recommend on that site, but I don't have any experience, and also your phone is probably tapped by NSO's Pegasus, so why even bother.
You will also need an ID and proof of residence/income depending on the laws in your country to open an account on one of the sites that sell crypto. BUT if you're smarter than I am and don't mind a bit of learning and a bit of risk, you can look up exchanges that operate without ID: https://www.getmonero.org/community/merchants/ (bisq seems to be popular). I have never tried this. This has the added benefit of having significantly lower fees.
How to use the wallet
Once you've installed the Monero GUI wallet from the link, choose your language, and then press Simple Mode. Just Simple Mode. Read the disclaimer. If you have reasons for more paranoia, go back and do the bootstrap mode, but you're on your own for that.
Create a new wallet. Write down your mnemonic seed (in case you lose access to the monero GUI wallet). Don't be a dummy and read the things marked as (!).
In the end you should come to a nice looking dashboard. Wait for the bottom left area to say "Wallet is synchronized".
If you ever need more info on this software you can look here (https://github.com/monero-ecosystem/monero-GUI-guide/blob/master/monero-GUI-guide.md#create-a-wallet) or find something more up-to-date and easily digestible.
Stuffing your wallet
Identify some place you can easily put money in and get some type of coin out. It doesn't matter what coin, just be wary of the fees you pay to get it. There are also some fees in a future step, but you can think of that later.
Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, for reputable places that would take your card, personally I have no issue with using the first one. Use Bisq if you want to be on the downlow and don't mind some messing about. Bisq is good if you want to eliminate one more weakness in the process.
Go register, click around until you can buy a coin, preferrably Monero directly, if you don't mind having it be known that you buy Monero, or just good old Bitcoin (or cheapest shitcoin, as long as you can exchange it) is also good. Take note of the fees you pay to purchase - you can always compare what you've paid to the price on Google when you search for "USD to XMR" (XMR is Monero in case I didn't mention it yet).
If you bought a shitcoin, find an exchange. I like changenow because it's no hassle, but the fees are a bummer sometimes. On ChangeNow, choose the shitcoin you have, and choose to get Monero. Go on your Monero GUI wallet and under "Receive" click on "Add a New Address" and type in "ChangeNow". When the ChangeNow website asks for a recipient address, give it the new address that you just made that you called "ChangeNow". From now on always use the "ChangeNow" labelled address on Changenow, this is like giving your name to them, so if you use it somewhere else, you might accidentally allow people to correlate it between themselves ("oh wow (ID/name) also bought some coins from us how interesting!!"). Send the cryptocoin that you bought to the address that ChangeNow gives you, and wait 20-30 minutes for the Monero to show up in the top left of your Monero GUI wallet.
If you bought Monero directly from kraken, coinbase, binance, bisq, or whatever, then you should go to your Monero GUI wallet and under "Receive" click on "Add a New Address" and type in the name of the website you bought your monero from. Go to transfer your Monero from the website, and when it asks for a wallet address to transfer to, give it the new address that you just made. From now on always use that address on that website, this is like giving your name to them, so if you use it somewhere else, you might accidentally allow people to correlate it between themselves ("oh wow (ID/name) also bought some coins from us how interesting!!"). Wait 20-30 minutes for the Monero to show up in the top left of your Monero GUI wallet.
I have the money, how do I use it?
Once you've got the Monero (your wallet should show that you have a non-zero sum in it), then it's time to pay. Coordinate with the person/company you want to buy from on diyhrt.cafe. I prefer discussing everything over email first. Some vendors accept XMR directly, like OtokonokoPharma, while some accept only Bitcoin or Ethereum.
For vendors that accept XMR: put stuff in your cart and press check out to get the wallet address (most common) OR coordinate over email (MAKE SURE IT'S THEIR ACTUAL EMAIL) and let them send you the wallet address. Press on Send on your wallet GUI, and then paste their address and type in the amount that's needed. Always verify XMR amounts using Google by typing "USD to XMR" and entering the amount in the bottom of the dialog. Press send once you're done.
Sometimes vendors can ask you to confirm that you sent by sending them a little code. This is normal, and is a side effect of how Monero does its obfuscation and anonymity. Go to Transactions on your GUI, press on the latest transaction that you sent (verify the its same by checking the date and amount), and then press on Generate Payment Proof. In some cases, you may also need to provide the transaction ID, click on it to copy. Send these over by email (in otokonoko's case there is a format she wants you to use, make sure you read her email).
For vendors that don't accept XMR but accept other crypto: This is easier, but has fees associated with it. Check out on the site or by email to get their wallet address in their crypto (let's assume it's bitcoin). Once you have their bitcoin wallet address, go to ChangeNow (or another exchange, but I will write about ChangeNow).
Once on ChangeNow, choose to send XMR and receive BTC (or whatever crypto). Press Confirm, and on the next page validate the amount. Paste the amount of BTC that the diyhrt.cafe vendor asks for into the "You Get" field. Paste the recipient address that you copied from the checkout page. Generate a refund wallet in your XMR GUI (by pressing Receive and pressing Create New Address, call it ChangeNow Refund). The refund address is there in case the amount could not be sent, so the site will send your XMR back to you. Press Next, and send your XMR amount, and keep everything open while it does its thing. This will take up to 30 minutes. Once Changenow verifies that they received your XMR, and that they sent the Bitcoin, wait for a few minutes and inform your HRT vendor that you sent your payment.
That's about it.
