You seem knowledgeable. Where's a safe place to order the topical application from? I'm not in the US or Europe, our doctors aren't going to be bothered with (or knowledgeable about) something like treating baldness.
My Gmail username is the same as my HN username if you prefer to answer in private. Thanks
I don't have the savvy for stuff like actually acquiring medicines, unfortunately. You might be able to just buy it from your local pharmacy; but if not, you could check https://hrtcafe.net/ or – as a sibling commenter suggested – look into minoxidil (which works via a different mechanism). I wouldn't recommend minoxidil unless its other effects would be beneficial to you, since I'm leery of things that affect blood pressure and circulation – but I'm not actually trained in this stuff, so maybe it's considered safer.
Finasteride is less potent, but is normally recommended for cis men; not sure why. Theoretically, I'd expect dutasteride to be the better medication (and https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S192435 bears that out) if you can get hold of it.
I'd have thought finasteride and dutasteride weren't safe to take if there's a chance of you getting someone pregnant, but https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/finasteride/fertility-and-pregn... says it's fine, actually. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-1208.86093 goes into more detail on that. (I'm not aware of any other impacts on fœtal development, only the intersex condition mentioned in that article – note that the backdoor pathway described in https://doi.org/10.1002/dvdy.23892 also requires the 5α-reductase enzyme –, but I'd still advise caution.)
Thank you. This is an extremely informative comment that gives me many avenues to pursue. Much appreciated.