2mg of E2 for only 13 days and he needs surgery? Sounds very much like something a lawyer would say. At most a few mm of development/widening of the areola with the start of development under. Not noticeable unless you are actually measuring them weekly. It is common enough that a someone will have to go off HRT after only a few weeks and anything underlying breast development will undo itself, but not the areola. But full blown gynecomastia that is irreversible? That takes a lot longer.
Perhaps he was already overweight, high fat percentage (which results in high e2 in males) and some gynecomastia already?
Further I would be willing to bet that he was swallowing all 2mg at once and not taking the pills sublingually or buccally split across the day.
It is up to the lawyers to decide and maybe he had better breast development than any trans woman I know, but everything in my experience tells me that noticeable gynecomastia takes longer than 13 days on e2.
I agree that there is likely a much more nuanced truth here than is conveyed by the news article, and I hope that we never gain access to the boy's medical records to clarify further.
My lay understanding is that the absolute levels of testosterone and estrogen are much less important for men than their relative levels.
I actually had blood drawn a couple of weeks ago to check for this very thing. I’m male, and while my testosterone levels are in the median range, my estrogen levels are very high relatively speaking. I’m operating under the assumption that it’s caused by recent weight gain - thanks, quarantine - so I’m working to lose that weight and will check it again.
Interestingly, there don’t seem to be many accepted options for reducing estrogen levels. My PCP suggested broccoli seed extract, but made it clear that it wasn’t a well-supported or accepted treatment. The most reliable treatment is a change of lifestyle.
Perhaps he was already overweight, high fat percentage (which results in high e2 in males) and some gynecomastia already?
Further I would be willing to bet that he was swallowing all 2mg at once and not taking the pills sublingually or buccally split across the day.
It is up to the lawyers to decide and maybe he had better breast development than any trans woman I know, but everything in my experience tells me that noticeable gynecomastia takes longer than 13 days on e2.