Transfem
A community for transfeminine people and experiences.
This is a supportive community for all transfeminine or questioning people. Anyone is welcome to participate in this community but disrupting the safety of this space for trans feminine people is unacceptable and will result in moderator action.
Debate surrounding transgender rights or acceptance will result in an immediate ban.
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- Bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
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Posters may express that they are looking for responses and support from groups with certain experiences (eg. trans people, trans people with supportive parents, trans parents.). Please respect those requests and be mindful that your experience may differ from others here.
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Some helpful links:
- The Gender Dysphoria Bible // In depth explanation of the different types of gender dysphoria.
- Trans Voice Help // A community here on blahaj.zone for voice training.
- LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory // A directory of LGBTQ+ accepting Healthcare providers.
- Trans Resistance Network // A US-based mutual aid organization to help trans people facing state violence and legal discrimination.
- TLDEF's Trans Health Project // Advice about insurance claims for gender affirming healthcare and procedures.
- TransLifeLine's ID change Library // A comprehensive guide to changing your name on any US legal document.
- Gender Spectrum // Resources for youth, parents and family, educators, mental health professionals and faith leaders.
Support Hotlines:
- The Trevor Project // Web chat, phone call, and text message LGBTQ+ support hotline.
- TransLifeLine // A US/Canada LGBTQ+ phone support hotline service. The US line has Spanish support.
- LGBT Youthline.ca // A Canadian LGBT hotline support service with phone call and web chat support. (4pm - 9:30pm EST)
- 988lifeline // A US only Crisis hotline with phone call, text and web chat support. Dedicated staff for LGBTQIA+ youth 24/7 on phone service, 3pm to 2am EST for text and web chat.
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I've had glottoplasty, and I know quite a few other folk that have too. And it can make a huge difference. But other people say that it changed their pitch, but that they aren't happy with the results.
And from what I can tell, the difference was largely related to whether people had done voice training or not. Those who had done training seemed to find that VFS was a big help in getting them across the line, but those who hadn't, tended to find that their results were more "meh".
The way I put it is that VFS improved the instrument I was using to speak, and let me get more for less with my vocal training.
The downsides for me are that I can't project my voice very well anymore. I am regularly told that I am softly spoken, and I have trouble being heard in clubs and busy restaurants. But I can shout and sing just fine. It's only projecting a speaking voice that I struggle with.
Thats it, like I've done enough training that for small periods of time with focus i can pass. But its a very conscious effort and even with focus my pitch very easily slips back down. I've been told by my friends and coworkers that I talk like a woman, that my cadence and intonation reads as feminine, but I have inconsistent pitch.
I'm basically weighing different options for the future of my medical transition and what parts I think are most important to me. When it comes down to it my voice is the source of a lot of my dysphoria these days. I'm kind of viewing glottoplasty as partially undoing some of the damage that testosterone did to my vocal cords. I can practice all I like, master every aspect of pitch maintenance and vocal weight and all of it. But no matter what training I do the "instrument" I use to speak isn't the right one, and I sorta feel like even when I'm putting 100% effort in that it's not really my voice. Kinda like I'm faking a voice. And I've heard that not being able to have a lower vocal register at all makes a huge difference with this regard. I want to no longer be able to do my deep voice at all.
Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, what surgeon did you go with? And how happy are you with your outcome overall? Do you feel like its made a difference in how your voice passes? Do you still have times where your voice doesn't pass?
My surgeon was an Australian, Dr Broadhurst in Brisbane. Overall, I'm really happy with the results.
In my case, I had to have vocal cord surgery anyway to remove nodules on my cords, and given that there was a vfs surgeon in my city and he was willing to do both in the same surgery, that made my decision pretty easy.
I won't say my voice is perfect. I'm never misgendered over the phone, but I think on some days, without context clues, some people don't know how to gender me. Most of the time though, people gender me just fine. I think though that my voice is a bit less rich than many cis women's, but that's because I never really focused on the training that it sounds like you've got down pat.