The Hormone Revolution
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

Female hormones were discovered much earlier, but the first time that estrogen was isolated and available as a treatment, was in the early 1930s. The dug was called “Premarin” because it was synthesized from PREgnant MARe’s uRINe. At the time it was intended for the treatment of menopause in women, but it was only a matter of time before its effect on the bodies of young men could be fully understood. I played a role in that.

I was too old to serve in World War II, but I like to think that I performed valuable services working as a research physician with the major drug company Wyeth (previously American Home Products) which had its pharmaceutical division in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Premarin had been first synthesized in Canada, by a company called Ayerst McKenna and Harrison in 1938, and had been on sale for the treatment of menopausal symptoms for some time, but in 1943 Wyeth “merged” with Ayerst and took over marketing of Premarin.

Books have been written about this drug, the development of it, then there were the animal rights issues about sourcing the raw material, battles with the Federal Drug Administration, and colorable actions on the Board and in share trading, but fundamentally it was all about chasing profits by finding applications for what was termed to be a miracle drug that could “feminize” a human body. The question was asked as to whether it could be used to reduce a right of heart disease that was higher in men than in women. The potential positive outcomes for men were many, but their were the known side effects.

In 1948 I was asked to put together a study based on the effects of Premarin on young men, and with the support of management I determined that a sample of 12 young men would be sufficient. The difficulty was that we knew to expect drastic changes in the male body that would be extremely undesirable for most men, so volunteers would be hard to find.

In the end the group that I put together included five young men suffering from a gender disorder subsequently known as “transsexuality” who were willing to accept the body changes, and seven other young men. I suppose that you could say that those young men were either alone in the world or in such unfortunate circumstances as to be willing to take risks upon payment of a substantial up front “program joining fee”. Most of this group were a number of young deserters from military service who were referred to us. A couple of them were homosexuals

In recognition that some degree of “feminization” would be a fact that all the participants would need to live with, I directed that all subjects would dress in feminine attire during the trial period. This had the practical effect of allowing growing breasts to be supported and also allowing the subjects to appear in the community without appearing abnormal. Otherwise we accommodated all of the subjects in a dormitory so that we could observe physical and mental progression constantly. Within a short period of time all of the subjects all took on a distinctly feminine appearance, even disregarding the change of body shape.

Those changes to physique proved truly remarkable. Masculine muscle mass reduced very quickly, and all of the subjects developed swelling of the breasts and buttocks and a distinct reduction in the size of male genitals in the majority. Appearing in public with that appearance would have been hard to explain. In most cases the oddity might have appeared because of the continuation of many male gestures including gait, but this could have been explained away as “tomboyish nature”.

I directed that all subkects not cut their hair so that growth rates and changes in texture could be assessed. It was largely up to them what hairstyle they adopted but the t”transsexuals” among the group adopted very feminine styles as soon as they were able.

I made a point of assembling all of the subjects for a full examination every morning, having all individuals lined up in their feminine underwear so that I could check for muscle atrophy, swellings in the nature of female secondary sexual characteristics, and diminution of the penis and testes. I also paid special attention to the softness of the skin and (as I have said) the condition of the hair.

I reported the results of my work through to head office. It appears that the five young “transsexual” persons were extremely pleased with the results. I understand that marketing does see potential in promoting sales into this fairly small market, and I can certainly attest to the efficaciousness.

As for the others, I have no recommendations. Some of them have come to terms with the changes to their bodies and their ability to present themselves as women, but with a concealed anatomical incongruity. As for the others, I have no opinion. That is beyond the scope of my study. They were simply paid and allowed to keep the supplied feminine clothing. I have other studies and have no time to dwell upon consequences of their valuable contribution to pharmaceutical science.

The End
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© Maryanne Peters 2026

Author's Note:
This story was driven by the AI image that I found somewhere, which appears set at some earlier time. It got me curious about whether clinical trials of the effect of female hormones on men had ever taken place. With a little research (which is my thing) I then discovered all about Premarin, Wyeth and Ayerst and all manner of strange dealings - enough for a mini series, I think. There is more to work on here, but this little thing is made available to readers.
MP