Also written: male-to-female, FTM, MTF, FtM, MtF, female to male, male to female
| Source | Year | Position |
|---|---|---|
| American Psychological Association | 2023 | Avoid |
| NLGJA - The Association of LGBTQ Journalists | 2025 | Avoid |
| Trans Journalists Association | 2026 | Avoid |
“female to male… assigned female at birth (AFAB)… male to female… assigned male at birth (AMAB)”
APA lists both directional forms among terms to avoid, pointing instead to the assigned-sex-at-birth framing — "assigned female at birth (AFAB)" for female to male and "assigned male at birth (AMAB)" for male to female.
“FTM, or female-to-male, is generally seen as outdated.… MTF, or male-to-female, is generally seen as outdated.”
NLGJA directs writers to trans man and trans woman, noting within each entry that the directional FTM and MTF forms are generally seen as dated. It advises identifying a subject simply as a man or woman unless transgender status is relevant and the subject prefers the longer term.
“Once common ways of describing a trans person based on their assigned sex at birth, these terms are generally seen as outdated now. Transfeminine and transmasculine are more modern equivalents.”
The three sources here agree the directional forms are earlier shorthand but split on the replacement; TJA's is transfeminine / transmasculine, which names a broader gender register rather than the assigned-at-birth axis (APA's AFAB / AMAB) or the gender itself (NLGJA's trans man / trans woman). Pick the framing the sentence actually needs.
The two paired directional terms — FTM / female-to-male and MTF / male-to-female — both name a trans person by their sex assigned at birth, and the three kept sources agree closely on how to treat them. The Trans Journalists Association (updated 2023-08-25), the American Psychological Association (2023), and NLGJA — The Association of LGBTQ Journalists (2025) all place the forms in the “avoid” column. None treats the construction as wrong to understand; each points past it to a now-standard alternative.
The sources differ only in which replacement they foreground. APA pairs the directional terms with the assigned-sex-at-birth framing, “assigned female at birth (AFAB)” and “assigned male at birth (AMAB).” TJA points to transfeminine and transmasculine as the current equivalents. NLGJA routes writers to trans man and trans woman, folding the note about FTM/MTF into those preferred entries. These are three angles on the same identity rather than competing positions: AFAB/AMAB names the assigned axis, transmasculine/transfeminine names a broader gender register, and trans man / trans woman names the gender itself.
The practical rule is to lead with trans man / trans woman in general copy, reach for AFAB/AMAB when the assigned-at-birth fact is what the sentence needs, and reserve the directional forms for cases where a person uses them about themselves. The consensus is recent and tight across both journalism and psychology style guides (TJA and APA in 2023, NLGJA in 2025), describing these as earlier-generation terms that pre-date the trans man / trans woman framing now standard in their fields.
The directional forms entered wide use as a compact way to name a trans person’s transition by its endpoints relative to assigned sex. The style guides collected here record their successors: by the 2023–2025 entries above, trans man / trans woman, transmasculine / transfeminine, and the AFAB / AMAB framing had become the forms these guides direct writers toward, with FTM / MTF described as the earlier shorthand they pre-date.