Yeson voice feminization surgery

[smile_jma]

I mean for the procedure itself. I live in Korea, maybe an hour and a half away from Yeson by subway.

[Jennygirl]

It's pricey but still not as pricey as Dr. Thomas who is I think [the last time I checked] near 10K.

7350us for the procedure and 400 if you need botox for vocal tremor

[smile_jma]

Wow, thank you. A little out of reach for me right now, but now i have a new goal.

What was the surgery like? Were you awake? Were you in a sense able to "pick" your voice during? Or was it just "I'm going to tighten these chords and we'll see the outcome."

[barbie]

7350us for the procedure and 400 if you need botox for vocal tremor

That amount nearly equals to my monthly salary Actually, I wanted a kind of laser treatment for wrinkles, but my eldest son got laser treatment for acne. I can not afford to do two treatments at the same time, and I postponed the laser treatment for myself. Probably, next year when I will get incentive. And, at that time, my second son probably will need laser treatment.

Some women here in Korea carry handbags of > US$6,000. I am sure.

barbie~~

[Jennygirl]

Wow, thank you. A little out of reach for me right now, but now i have a new goal.

What was the surgery like? Were you awake? Were you in a sense able to "pick" your voice during? Or was it just "I'm going to tighten these chords and we'll see the outcome."

I was asleep for the surgery Oh god I can't imagine being awake for it. They use this crazy stainless tube that goes down your throat to keep everything open and accessible, then they go in with their custom developed micro instruments to remove a small mucous membrane and tie the permanent sutures. The surgery takes about 1.5 hours. When I woke up, there was a very dull but intense pain in my throat and my jaw & tongue were a little sore. My tongue was really swollen in one area, like maybe it had been pinched for a while by the throat opening instrument (that took about 1.5 weeks to subside and to regain full taste on that one part of my tongue).

It was also very hard to breathe right after waking up. There was a lot of phlegm and my cords were swollen from the surgery so my throat kept wanting to close when I tried to breathe in too quickly. It was slightly unnerving actually- I wish they would have warned me about that. For a few moments I thought I would suffocate because when I gasped for air it closed up! I just controlled my breathing and I was fine. Just trying VERY hard not to cough up the phlegm. That was the longest hour of my life (they don't let you drink anything for 1 hour after you wake up). Once I was able to drink water, I was in heaven.

They are very certain of the outcome, statistically it raises the pitch of one's voice by 75hz. They were dead on with me. My voice is up ~73hz after 1 month of recovery. Dr. Kim doesn't really let you decide, he just goes for the 75hz on everyone it seems. He will also fix any other problems with your vocal cords simultaneously which is super nice!

I hope this answers your questions

[barbie]

Yesterday, a news paper here reported that Yeson has performed voice surgeries for about 180 transgender people from 23 countries around the world. According to the article, the cost is about 1.5 times more expensive than in the U.S., but the higher safety increasingly attracts patients.

barbie~~

[Kate_H]

Jenny your result is phenomenal, I am So jealous I can't wait to follow your lead on this, hopefully early in the new year.. As I'm a bit surgeried out at the mo, seeing as I'm typing this from my hospital bed, having had grs on Friday, lol

Xx

[smile_jma]

Thank you~ That was actually quite informative.

Will they do trache shaves at the same time or do they recommend those first?

Edit: Sorry, I guess I could email them..

[Jennygirl]

Kate- I wish you a speedy recovery! I am jealous of your GRS! I am getting more excited for that as the months go by.

smile_jma- they actually don't recommend trach shaves at all, because it can lower the result in some cases. That was one of the reasons they tied off 1/2 of my cords instead of 1/3- because I have already had the trach shave and there was a chance that my results would be less. But luckily, that was not the case!

I would definitely get it done beforehand and make sure it is from a VERY competent doctor who is not going to take too much off and mess up / lower your pre-VFS voice. It could reduce the amount of tension possible which is necessary to raising the pitch. Also you should space the procedures by at least 2-3 months.

[♥ Dutchess]

Jenny, girl, you are TRULY inspirational. I am totally happy for you! You sound magnifico!

[Jennygirl]

Thank you Dutchess!!

My voice quality is improving like crazy right now, I'll do another recording of the same passage again in a few weeks. Every now and then I record it again to check my progress. The pitch is staying the same but the tonal quality is changing a lot. It feels soooo much more natural now, not nearly as dry.

Since transitioning, I've never been so happy just to interact with other people. Not that I was unhappy before, but it's truly been a huge quality of life improvement. The past week has left me speechless on many occasions, amazed at how people are treating me differently and really there is no question in my mind whether I would do this surgery again.

Cherrie- I don't have insurance so I couldn't tell you for sure. I'd imagine if you put enough time and effort into it... maybe?

[Carlita]

Well I had no idea how goofy my before voice would sound to me... but here it is anyway

Oh. My. God. That is absolutely incredible! I'm not surprised people are treating you better Jenny. ALL they can hear is a girl!

[Horizon]

HOLY #%(! THAT'S AN UH-MAZING DIFFERENCE!!!  I was only expecting a minor change, like a higher male voice to that of a lower female's, but that....that blew my mind.  Thank you so much for the inspiration and having the girlballs to take a risk that huge!  I want to spend the time training my voice first, but it's nice knowing the surgical options are so effective.

[Shantel]

Yes what an amazing vocal transition Jenny has experienced and she sounds so natural! Something weird about female voices I have been noticing as of late are the young girls as well as women up into their 30's that are suddenly emulating Kim Kardashian's squeeky little girl voice as if they are talking only from high up in their necks. It's aggravating to listen to these parrots!

[Jennygirl]

Thank you and thank you again. My goodness. So glad that more people are seeing this as an option! So much better than CTA or really any other voice surgery.

My voice is getting really a lot stronger, and the roughness when speaking at regular volumes is almost completely gone. It is super gone at the lower volumes.

I'm also noticing my range starting to increase during regular speech. I'm really starting to register that this is my voice. I'm no longer having dreams where I still have a low voice

My range still has a ways to go (and I hope it goes a LOT) because I still haven't been able to make a squeak higher than I could before the surgery which was a C5 on the scale. I can still only squeak (and I have to do it gently, too) up to a Bb4. It's only two semitones lower, but I really hope to be able to make those super high pitched squeak noises if I want It may be wishful thinking though. Only time will tell.

I also wonder what singing range I will have, because right now I feel as though my chest voice switches to a falsetto type of sound at about the same point- even though the falsetto sounds way less like falsetto now. I'm not even trying to sing though, more like saying a single short word at specific pitches to see how it feels.

[Carlita]

I also wonder what singing range I will have, because right now I feel as though my chest voice switches to a falsetto type of sound at about the same point- even though the falsetto sounds way less like falsetto now. I'm not even trying to sing though, more like saying a single short word at specific pitches to see how it feels.

I'm really looking forward to hearing you sing! I love singing so much that I'd hate to lose that ability ... but if I could finally sing along to Joni Mitchell - including the high notes - well, that would make a trip to South Korea worthwhile in itself!

[Yukari-sensei]

Wow! Why did I take Japanese instead of Korean??!!

I was contemplating this but was very skeptical of what surgery could achieve. I hate my voice and thought it was going to be with me forever. Now, maybe it won't. Congratulations Jenny and thank you for sharing this with us!

[Nicolette]

Thank you and thank you again. My goodness. So glad that more people are seeing this as an option! So much better than CTA or really any other voice surgery.

My voice is getting really a lot stronger, and the roughness when speaking at regular volumes is almost completely gone. It is super gone at the lower volumes.

I'm also noticing my range starting to increase during regular speech. I'm really starting to register that this is my voice. I'm no longer having dreams where I still have a low voice

My range still has a ways to go (and I hope it goes a LOT) because I still haven't been able to make a squeak higher than I could before the surgery which was a C5 on the scale. I can still only squeak (and I have to do it gently, too) up to a Bb4. It's only two semitones lower, but I really hope to be able to make those super high pitched squeak noises if I want It may be wishful thinking though. Only time will tell.

I also wonder what singing range I will have, because right now I feel as though my chest voice switches to a falsetto type of sound at about the same point- even though the falsetto sounds way less like falsetto now. I'm not even trying to sing though, more like saying a single short word at specific pitches to see how it feels.

It currently seems that the surgery doesn't actually shift range, but limits it. It limits the ability to reach low pitches and pushes one's pitch mode to a higher frequency. But it doesn't give one an ability to reach a range that they couldn't reach before the surgery. I'd like this to be disproven though. I suspect if this surgery did extend one's pitch range, singers would be arriving in their droves to have this done.

[Jennygirl]

It currently seems that the surgery doesn't actually shift range, but limits it. It limits the ability to reach low pitches and pushes one's pitch mode to a higher frequency. But it doesn't give one an ability to reach a range that they couldn't reach before the surgery. I'd like this to be disproven though. I suspect if this surgery did extend one's pitch range, singers would be arriving in their droves to have this done.

They did tell me that until I started vocal exercises at 2 months my voice will be almost monotone sounding with very limited range. Yet, even without vocal exercises, every day I notice a little bit more control over the higher pitches and I would say that the line between chest / head voice is still there but it is slightly disappearing- especially during normal speech. I am just becoming much more comfortable with it overall. People who I haven't seen in a week are telling me that my voice sounds way different now, and the reaction is good good good.

One of the most interesting changes I've noticed over the past couple of weeks has been my laugh. It's gone from kind of a crackly odd sounding lower wavelength to a much more girly giggle. I guess I am having to adapt. I've also noticed that just adding a tinge more resonance modification into the mix sends my voice into über girly land which is sometimes fun to do. I think I tend to do that more around people I haven't met before.

Either way my voice has been passing with no issues for what seems like a week or two and it has kind of changed my whole outlook on living as a female. Going back to work at a place I haven't worked for in 4-5 years has brought all sorts of interesting interactions. I'm pretty sure the office as a whole doesn't have any clue I'm trans, which is definitely a first for me. Unless the word got out from the people that I am working with and new me before, everyone else just thinks I am some girl that is really into procedural animation and advanced visual programming

In a week and a half I will begin the vocal exercises and I am VERY curious to see how much of a difference they make. I have high hopes based on what they told me during the pre and post op consultations. I'll be sure to keep you updated with progress, and most likely a new recording for comparison from last month

[misschievous]

It is amazing how well your voice sounds now and to think you haven't even started voice training yet Really interested in how it will sound when it's all said and done.