Are you striving for a curvy body?

[Jennygirl]

Also, I wonder how it looks when sitting... I am definitely going to try to meet one of the patients before going through with this.

[A]

oh yes I'm very aware. already raising money and making appointments and getting quotes for FFS and working on my voice which I may or may not get FEMLAR for (I already have some damages to my voice so it would partially be corrective)

I strongly advise that you look into Yeson Voice Center's surgery. It's unique, I think, and I got a very good impression from it. If I was going to get voice surgery, I'd definitely choose this one. My friend had it done, and she's gone from struggling and being ashamed of her voice to this.

I wonder how fat grafting would work in that area. I do know that it tends to move around. Being underneath a waistband, I think it is safe to reasonably assume that the fat would disperse from that area or eventually you'd have a depression where your belt sits. Maybe I'm wrong though?

I like the idea of a solid implant, it's not going to change shape or start drooping over time. What you see is what you get... If I were gonna do my glutes, I would go for stem cell fat transfer though. Problem is, I hardly have any body fat to begin with! I just weighed myself today and I'm back down to 125lbs at 5'7". Been eating a TON at no avail.

If there is a worry with that (and I'm not sure there is), I'm pretty sure the doctor will have post-op instructions to counteract that. This is simplistic, but something like a solid-ish very wide belt, shaped to the body, worn as underwear to spread the pressure, for example, is but one solution I can think of.

[Jennygirl]

Wowwww, that voice surgery looks super great compared to everything else I've seen.. Thanks for posting that

[tomthom]

another great one is dr. thomas.


she's a sterling example of somebody that was young and actually waited for it to heal, and doesn't try to sound like a valley girl. (there's another girl out there on youtube that had it that honestly just can't talk without sounding like an uber femme gay guy. I'm sorry but its the truth!)

[Jennygirl]

Well we are getting off topic here so I wouldn't be surprised to see these posts moved, but I have mixed feelings on Dr. Thomas... It's neat that he actually tries to make the voice box smaller, but there is an incision right over the neck and recovery seems a lot crazier. Also listening to the voice examples on his website it sounds like they have somewhat of a difficulty making the voice project- as if a majority of the vocal power is gone. Also he states that there are heavy risks to the surgery, recovery is much longer, and the outcome seems less predictable than I would like. I have seen this girl's videos before though and it is super impressive what he has done for her Her voice is definitely a shining example of his work.

However I am blown away by the Yeson voice surgery... No incision at all... Wow. Seems like they haven't had a bad outcome once, either, and it is much more predictable. That is even more impressive.

I don't NEED voice surgery, because my average pitch for male voice sits at around 140-160hz, and I can pop it up to 200hz with no effort. But it'd be so neat to have natural sounding cough, laugh, singing voice, no matter if you just woke up or sick or whatever.

[Nicolette]

I wonder how fat grafting would work in that area. I do know that it tends to move around. Being underneath a waistband, I think it is safe to reasonably assume that the fat would disperse from that area or eventually you'd have a depression where your belt sits. Maybe I'm wrong though?

I don't quite get the belt bit. Belts sit on the waist, usually the area from which fat is taken. You want a depression there as that defines the waist. Maybe the belt is resting on the hips. It would be a very low belt if it's on the hips. Where I had fat grafting done, no waistband or belt sits on that area. It's too low.

[Nicolette]

I strongly advise that you look into Yeson Voice Center's surgery. It's unique, I think, and I got a very good impression from it. If I was going to get voice surgery, I'd definitely choose this one. My friend had it done, and she's gone from struggling and being ashamed of her voice to this.

She sounds great. What's the name of the surgery? What does it entail? Can your friend still sing?

[A]

She sounds great. What's the name of the surgery? What does it entail? Can your friend still sing?

http://www.yesonvc.net/disease/feminization_surgery.asp
As far as I know, the surgery is mainly laser. It plays on the vocal cords. I think it creates an anterior web, but I'm definitely not sure. What's good is that there's no incision and no stitches. Recovery seems to be faster than with other surgeries, though I haven't actually investigated that.

As for singing, uhm. She was awful at singing in the first place. So she didn't sing for me. Though I think her voice would definitely allow her to if she worked on it. :p

[Nicolette]

http://www.yesonvc.net/disease/feminization_surgery.asp
As far as I know, the surgery is mainly laser. It plays on the vocal cords. I think it creates an anterior web, but I'm definitely not sure. What's good is that there's no incision and no stitches. Recovery seems to be faster than with other surgeries, though I haven't actually investigated that.

As for singing, uhm. She was awful at singing in the first place. So she didn't sing for me. Though I think her voice would definitely allow her to if she worked on it. :p

Thanks for the info. I'll pass this on to my voice coach who's helping me with my singing voice. I've mentioned a number of new procedures to this supposed expert, but he dismisses them all as equal to and no better than CTA. Maybe this is so new that it has yet to register on his radar.

[A]

Maybe, but maybe, also, his distrust for surgeries as a whole is so great he would say the same either way. :p
By the way, this is an info document I still have lying around. https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6hz44f0o8hygmd/VFS%20Info..doc

[Jennygirl]

I have a consultation with Dr Chugay this Thursday at the Beverly Hills office- he said he's done about 100 of these now, 20% being mtf's. Very interested to see what he thinks is possible. The only thing that could be bad in my eyes is the scar, which highly depends on the placement chosen

I understand that most of you feel against the idea, but please don't beg me to not do this! I do not think it's something I should feel bad about investigating.

[A]

The only thing I'm going to beg you to do is to make sure you reflect upon this decision properly. And to make sure you get all the info you need to make a good decision, too.

[Jennygirl]

The only thing I'm going to beg you to do is to make sure you reflect upon this decision properly. And to make sure you get all the info you need to make a good decision, too.

I double promise you I will do that. When I said earlier "I've decided", I didn't really mean I'm going through with it regardless what it really means is I've decided to investigate further with intent. Just one step closer.

I've never had any sort of augmentation surgery- although my ex gf had a BA when we were together, so I'm already clued in on the implications, recovery, scarring. I'm sure Dr Chugay will be able to shed some more light in person, and he offered to get me in touch with at least one of the other mtf's who have had this done before which I am definitely gonna have to do.

After hitting puberty and living as a male for all those years, I wanted to have hips the whole time. So there is no question whether I really want to have bigger hips... I undoubtedly do. The only questions left remaining are: is this procedure the one I've been waiting for, and will it be worth it in the long run.

And so far the answer is probably yes

[Jennygirl]

Well yesterday I had a consultation, and I had this huge long post written up..

But I came to the conclusion later last night that the overall feeling when I left their office was kind of glaringly awful. I was trying to make myself feel better about certain parts so I could rationalize eventually doing the surgery- but it's just not worth it to me. It seems like there are better options available that are more specialized / friendly for transgendered people.

Even though I've decided against it, I'm still happy to fill anybody in with the information I found out

[Nicolette]

Well yesterday I had a consultation, and I had this huge long post written up..

But I came to the conclusion later last night that the overall feeling when I left their office was kind of glaringly awful. I was trying to make myself feel better about certain parts so I could rationalize eventually doing the surgery- but it's just not worth it to me. It seems like there are better options available that are more specialized / friendly for transgendered people.

Even though I've decided against it, I'm still happy to fill anybody in with the information I found out

I can imagine how disappointing and what an anticlimax this is, having set your mind on it. I'm not interested in this surgery myself, but for posterity it will be very helpful to know your reasons for not going ahead. Are you researching alternative surgeries or methods?

[AusBelle]

Well yesterday I had a consultation, and I had this huge long post written up..

But I came to the conclusion later last night that the overall feeling when I left their office was kind of glaringly awful. I was trying to make myself feel better about certain parts so I could rationalize eventually doing the surgery- but it's just not worth it to me. It seems like there are better options available that are more specialized / friendly for transgendered people.

Even though I've decided against it, I'm still happy to fill anybody in with the information I found out

Given time your body may develop how you'd like it to.  It's very early days yet. 

The kind of clothes you wear can really help too.  Dresses that flare out at the waist/hips, A line skirts, belts, the right kind of pants, jeans etc. 

I'm sure you've googled this, but there are websites to help.  Very few women are happy with the size and shape of their body.  Blame the media! 

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/slimming/slimming_tips/how-to-dress-body-shape.htm

[A]

If you really want surgery, I think fat grafts are your best option. Though at just 3 months of HRT, you should wait. Really. I think a year is a bare minimum before getting any such surgeries.

[Jennygirl]

I can imagine how disappointing and what an anticlimax this is, having set your mind on it. I'm not interested in this surgery myself, but for posterity it will be very helpful to know your reasons for not going ahead. Are you researching alternative surgeries or methods?

Yeah it's pretty disappointing.. Probably explains my mood today despite the weather outside :/ The experience I had with the patient coordinator was not good at all. She kept misgendering me even after I politely asked her to refer to me as female.. I got the feeling that they must not have that many transgender patients which said the most. I emailed them about it last night because it really got underneath my skin- especially the way she did it.. kind of behind my back in other rooms. I was really shocked and actually got rather offended after asking her nicely that she correct it to no avail. She threw out another "he" right in front of me just on my way out. Gahh

Meeting doctor was actually pretty okay, but my gut feeling was "ehhh......" Maybe I was already too thrown off from the coordinator to keep my mind open enough to be receptive. I did meet another trans woman in the waiting room and she was singing his praises.. she looked great, too- had her forehead & nose done with him.

Last night, Jamie sent me a PM about another member here who has gone through hip & butt surgeries. I did a little digging and found out there are much better options from doctors that seem to be more specialized for trans people. Thank you Jamie!!

Given time your body may develop how you'd like it to.  It's very early days yet. 

The kind of clothes you wear can really help too.  Dresses that flare out at the waist/hips, A line skirts, belts, the right kind of pants, jeans etc. 

I'm sure you've googled this, but there are websites to help.  Very few women are happy with the size and shape of their body.  Blame the media! 

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/slimming/slimming_tips/how-to-dress-body-shape.htm

It's true it's true. I know I should give my body a nice long chance. It's just... I have like NO body fat... I don't see much happening for distribution ever, and I don't want to be 3 years down the line knowing I could have had the right body years before. I feel like it's been too long already. Just because I started HRT 3 (almost 4) months ago doesn't mean I haven't wanted curves my whole life. I do my best to "simulate" the effect with clothing, and I am usually pretty happy with my efforts. But I want it to be there all the time... not just when I am dressed

If you really want surgery, I think fat grafts are your best option. Though at just 3 months of HRT, you should wait. Really. I think a year is a bare minimum before getting any such surgeries.

Fat grafts, yes I would do fat grafts if I had any fat to graft! Maybe I would get 90 or 100cc's to fiddle around with?

I don't want to get big for the sole purpose of grafting fat... That seems like it would be very unhealthy for me, my body is genetically predisposed to be thin. But I do understand waiting for a while with HRT..

With what I saw last night thanks to Jamie, I found a few doctors in mexico that offer cohesive gel implants and body feminization techniques. This attracted me a lot. "Body feminization" sounds to me like they will know how to make a male-ish figure more feminine, not just throw a hard silicone hip implant under your muscle and call it a day. They use both fat grafting and cohesive gel implants, whatever will give the best result. That is my direction for further research.

Here are links to the doctors I sent emails to:

Dr. Orlando Cerpa
http://www.sdro.com/drfigueroa/

And Dr. Cardenas, also a well known facial feminization surgeon
http://www.lazarocardenas-cosmeticsurgery.com/cirugiaPlastica/body/body_buttlocks_aumento.html

In my emails to them, my number one concern was: how long I should be on HRT before considering these surgeries? I'll let you know what they say. I have a feeling they'll say it doesn't make much of a difference, possibly with fat grafting it does though?

I understand that your point is "maybe you will be happy with the outcome of HRT alone" and not that there would be some kind of bad interaction. It's true, maybe I would be happy, but maybe I also wouldn't end up happy in the long run. On that note, if I can afford it and don't want to spend the next two or three years crossing my fingers, then why not? I guarantee you.. I won't be upset if HRT adds a slight bit on top of what would already be there

I'm glad you guys are still interested in this, I hope I'm not seeming bull-headed here. I have no idea when I'd even actually be doing the surgery. It depends on a lot of factors. All I know is by the time I have been on HRT for a year I want to have the research done and ready to go for it. Maybe I'll do it sooner if it feels right, but I'm not counting on anything... My experience with Dr. Chugay taught me that lesson.

[Eveline]

It's true it's true. I know I should give my body a nice long chance. It's just... I have like NO body fat... I don't see much happening for distribution ever, and I don't want to be 3 years down the line knowing I could have had the right body years before.

Honey, I just have to say, your figure is so cute right now. Not to say you shouldn't do what makes you feel good, but wow.

[Jennygirl]

Honey, I just have to say, your figure is so cute right now. Not to say you shouldn't do what makes you feel good, but wow.

Thank you

I feel great about my body, and I like the way it looks in that photo, too. But most of the time when I see myself in photos other ppl take, the teensy hips are a lot more noticeable. Maybe not to others, but it is to me if that makes any sense

Anyway, thanks for your comment right now I'm doing the best I can!