Hormone replacement therapy for Manning would take several years

The hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, that Army Pfc. Bradley Manning has requested alters the bodys balance of sex hormones estrogen for male-to-female and testosterone for female-to-male transitions. Sometimes, male-to-female patients will also be given progesterone, another steroid typically produced by the ovaries, as well as a testosterone blocker such as spironolactone.

It basically initiates a second puberty. The full effects of that will typically take two to three years, said Marci L. Bowers, a California-based gynecologist and surgeon who has performed hundreds of gender-change operations over the past decade.

Manning's statement on the Today Show

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Hormone replacement therapy for Manning would take several years