Dear Anja,
I just got finished composing a lengthy reply to your message, then the system reset the compose window. So I'll try again, see if I can remember everything and compose this message in an editor window, for safety's sake. For clarity, please let me answer your posting bit-by-bit.
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
the study was interesting but the results were recorded much less than a year post op.
I'm not sure if we're referring to the same study. Mine (literature quote above) was just 5 pages of text, without any recorded results. Maybe you can send me a link?
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
But of course - paying $7000 plus travel just to do the same thing but with audio samples is kind of bugging me. But well - I am like you - rather be safe than sorry.
Yes, it's better to play it safe. We've only got one voice, so we should give it the best treatment possible.
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
But I am happy that you are volunteering to find out more while knowing about Yeson!
I can't make it to Yeson before May anyway, for scheduling reasons. So I'd need to book the surgery in March. Having the appointment with Gross in mid-February provides ample time to balance the pros and cons and arrive at an informed decision.
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
That tip to get rid of the break into the head voice - it totally works [...] But it only lasts for a while after doing these exercises.
It takes a while before speaking with a loose jaw becomes second nature. But it will. The loose lower jaw also eliminates much of the masculine sound of the chest register, so it's a worthwhile endeavor to learn the technique.
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
It sounds like you know a lot about voice and still consider this surgery, even after 20 years, thats 5 years more than me.
Well, a lot of that has to do with who I am as a person. Like many of us, I was aware of my gender dissonance from early childhood, and vocal about it. However, the topic was always rigorously silenced in my family. I also took up music at an early age, starting piano lessons at 5. As a child, I used to sing a lot, and, dare I say, very well. So when male puberty struck, it was absolutely horrific – this was the 80s, with no medical support network in place and literally no-one to turn to. So when my voice deepened, I stopped singing entirely (until my 30s). I ended up with a good baritone, but the voice never really felt like it belonged to me. And to this day, I use it merely as a working, albeit crude and imperfect tool to communicate with the world. It's like trying to knit with Chinese chopsticks for needles. It works, but the tips are too blunt, the taper is working against you and the stitches keep falling off the far end – AARGH! So I studied everything in my grasp about voice, singing and speech in order to still maintain a feminine speaking voice despite the hormonal changes.
I finished high school at 19, in 1994, and moved into my own place where I was safe to explore and finally able to do my research to tackle my transition. The Internet was still far from being a mass medium, so research was still tedious. In fall 1996 I went full-time, receiving HRT in early 1997, and SRS in Munich in early 1998. That was all the treatment available back then, and word about Ousterhout's new FFS had just begun to spread. Being young and reasonably good-looking back then, I skipped FFS, but would later follow through with it with Noorman van der Dussen in Antwerp, when the first (unflattering) signs of not being a spring chicken any more began to appear.
Through this, my feminine voice has served me well, I never had problems passing on the phone and such. But as I get older, it becomes more and more strenuous to maintain the voice quality I've gotten used to. And plus, as my business as a musician expanded, and I had to communicate my musical ideas to singers and choirs, I had to take up singing again. Applying the full force of my armamentarium of vocal technique to the process, I was able to morph my natural baritone into a mediocre alto to – what? – direct a choir in stealth mode. But it's a daunting process, you put in twice the effort for half the result. And you never quite lose the anxiety that something would go wrong, that the voice would slip or break. So I'd give the world for a safe surgical option to fix just that.
Quote from: anjaq on November 28, 2013, 06:32:57 PM
I will write you a PN as well
I was able to receive it, but not to reply to it. Something seems to be desperately wrong with my account, I'm not allowed to answer or write personal messages, I can't use an avatar picture, and have only very limited choices in terms of profile settings. Maybe one of you reading this message is a moderator and can help me out. Thanks in advance!
For the time being, Anja, please send me another private message with your email address included, in order for us to communicate that way in the meantime. Thanks!
Hugs,
Amy