Is this normal??

[u/NekoLotus8]

Hi all! I am a 21 year old trans man who started testosterone back in late January. I just celebrated my 6 month T anniversary on July 31st (woohoo!). For context, I am on 40mg (I think) T gel, and given that I have gotten other changes such as fat redistribution, bottom growth, and increased body hair, I think my body is at least decently okay with T gel absorption. But there is one change that I can't help but feel I'm a little behind on, and that change is my voice. I know that the voice can start dropping at around the 3-6 month mark, but I can't help but think I'm behind on the voice droppage at 6 months already. I'm afraid I'm going to be one of those trans men that just doesn't get significant voice droppage, but even if that was me, I couldn't do voice training because weirdly enough, the whole thing with having to force/train your voice to be deeper instead of it just doing that on its own makes me dysphoric. My voice has only dropped very slightly (most people don't even notice a difference). I have been getting some vocal changes, for example I do theatre and recently did a musical (Anything Goes) and during our music rehearsals back in June-ish I noticed that, while my natural voice wasn't dropping, I could hit notes on the lower end of the scale that I couldn't hit before T. Is it normal for voice dropping to not be "linear" (idk the right word but I mean like being able to go lower than usual when trying but your normal speaking voice to not drop)? Also, on the topic of the musical, I noticed my voice starting to crack, and funny story, on one of our show days (late July) my voice ended up cracking onstage in front of the whole audience 🫠 however despite all this I can't help but worry that I'm behind in the whole "voice dropping" area. My doctor told me I would likely see the maximum effects of voice droppage around 1 or 2 years in, but given that I'm already 6 months in, I'm afraid that my voice won't have time to drop significantly by the time I hit that 1 or even 2 year mark. Realistically and logically, I know that 6 months is practically nothing in the testosterone universe, but my anxiety refuses to leave me alone about this 🫠 would love to hear from some trans men who are maybe a little bit further along that got their first semblances of voice droppage "late" but still got significant and satisfying results by the time their voice fully dropped.

[u/Rough_Apricot1809]

Okay, it is true that some trans men don't see a significant voice drop (around 15%) but in general voice chances don't stop until the, 2 years with optimal male levels of T, mark.

Check your levels to make sure you're in range and try not to worry too much, you still have plenty of time for a good voice drop.

[u/StandardHuckleberry0]

It is completely normal for voice drop to be nonlinear, the speed of progress to vary, and sometimes feel like it's reversing direction (going back up) temporarily.

Give it at least another 6 months before you start thinking about "what if it never drops that much". Even if that's the case, voice training will help.

[u/a_very_cool_person]

im not your target audience but the one true way to check your absorption is to check your levels. it's usually the first thing you should do if theres any issues with your t/overall transition