Yeson voice feminization surgery

[Carlita]

Yes I think she was quite upset at first but, in my opinion anyway, the end result is one of the nicest voices I've heard. 
It's still here, I think:

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1IL24PWe1fE

Wow ... thanks for that! She sounds completely female and has to make a special effort to return to anything at all like a male range. Doctor, doctor ...I WANT WHAT SHE HAD!! 

[Teslagirl]

There is a woman on Youtube (letsflybutterfly) who has posted two very detailed and informative videos of her experiences with Yeson. She sounds great but there is one thing I'd like reassurance on. I said this in a post to her channel:

I notice that you sometimes have a double note when starting some words, for example the word 'my' at  3:30 in the phrase "...my voice surgery". I've noticed this in some other Yeson patients. Is it something that will settle with time?

Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone know if it is a permanent thing?

[Rachelicious]

Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone know if it is a permanent thing?

I'm going totally on instinct here, but she's speaking very close to her vocal fry in the linked video, and at ~2 months recovery I'd imagine she may have prior speech habits that lessened typical low-bass resonance to untrain in the new voice. It's a characteristic of how she's speaking rather than of the voice itself.

I also don't hear (or quite understand) what exactly you're referring to nor have I noticed any peculiar pitch matters in any Yeson girl's voice.

[Teslagirl]

Without being able to post actual links here (not allowed!) I can't directly let you hear what I mean, but there is a definite double tone on some words with some patients, as if the main tone is underlain with a lower note. It's usually a sort of catch at the beginning of words, a bit like you hear when a boy's voice is breaking. I might put an example through Praat to see if I can visualise a double waveform. It would be great if you could hear what I mean as I sometimes feel I'm hallucinating!!

I very much want this surgery, but I need to be certain I'll benefit. My voice 'passes' in nearly all interactions, but it is controlled, and I can hear that control. With Jenny and others who've been to Yeson, the 'control' quality is missing and they just sound natural. That's also true of Letsflybutterfly. Her pitch is very similar pre and post, but she sounds somehow purer in the post video (except for the catch I mentioned above). Can anyone else hear what I mean?

[Rachelicious]

Oh, that. I was listening to the wrong video

Yes that can happen when speaking with a lot of the vocal fry, which tends to happen more when anxious or with a very nasal voice (as bass-voice ladies tend to in order to compensate.) I've heard the voices of old women (70'ish) speak in that sound plenty of times, so at the very least it is gender-normative. Notice how her voice sounds regular when singing or when speaking beyond a monotone.

[Rachelicious]

My voice 'passes' in nearly all interactions, but it is controlled, and I can hear that control. With Jenny and others who've been to Yeson, the 'control' quality is missing and they just sound natural.

That's exactly why I'm looking to go. Before Yeson, voice work was just too poor-quality in results for me to consider it. I gave up on the idea of my vocal condition improving After 7+ years full-time, aside from electro that I'm finishing it is really the last big obstacle for me in terms of passing unconditionally all the time no matter what.

That's also true of Letsflybutterfly. Her pitch is very similar pre and post, but she sounds somehow purer in the post video (except for the catch I mentioned above). Can anyone else hear what I mean?

It's because she's able to speak properly without all the 1337 breath, resonance, and larynx effort that it takes to make a bass voice type sound as not-half-bad-at-all as she did pre-op. I'll be curious to hear the months ahead.

[anjaq]

Speaking with less control would be great indeed. I am trending to just do that now actually. It results in a low pitched voice of course, but then I only have to control resonance and tension. And those I will have to do anyways for life - surgery or not. Interestingly in the past weeks I had the feeling that it actually seems to work. People seem to accept the voice as a low pitched female voice as long as I control the resonance properly, but if I slip there it is not good of course. What I noticed last week was, I have trouble singing at higher pitches - it works, but I feel that there is always a low timbre to it plus it takes a lot of effort and tension to just sing along with the other women in a group at the campfire. And I tend to raise pitch in some situations , but I feel that this drains energy - its not easy. So for these reasons I still consider VFS although I am now actually a bit worried about the pitch increase being very noticeable to others, since I am not using a trained high pitched voice.

About that diplophonia - I had this described to me by someone alse who was at Yeson. She noticed it a lot when singing. Apparently it became better with time though, especially the first phases with the medication and the botox should not really be counted as a result of VFS, IMO. There are too many factors playing a role in that time. The botox makes the voice softer, breathier, more feminine, but also a bit hoarse at times and rather low volume. The medication also makes the voice more soft and clear. If both at done with and the training was done for a while, I think that is the time for a true post op comparison recording. The 2 months yeson are posting on the youtube are too short. I think 6 Months would be appropriate.

[Teslagirl]

Oh, that. I was listening to the wrong video

Yes that can happen when speaking with a lot of the vocal fry, which tends to happen more when anxious or with a very nasal voice (as bass-voice ladies tend to in order to compensate.) I've heard the voices of old women (70'ish) speak in that sound plenty of times, so at the very least it is gender-normative. Notice how her voice sounds regular when singing or when speaking beyond a monotone.

I had to look up 'vocal fry' as I'd never heard the term before. It is most often mentioned (critically) as a deliberate affectation by young women in the US but I take it it can occur involuntarily. All I want to know is whether after surgery with Yeson, you can be saddled with this sound whether you want it or not. I don't like the sound personally.

[Rachelicious]

It is a part of the vocal register. And she only sounds that way for some of the video...

Let some girls who have had it already give feedback, but I really think you have nothing to worry about regarding this.

[Teslagirl]

...although I am now actually a bit worried about the pitch increase being very noticeable to others, since I am not using a trained high pitched voice.

I was initially worried about this, but from all the examples it seems that the pitch pre and post is not vastly difference and as Jenny said, it climbs over the months. It's probably a slow enough process that no-one will notice and that's what I'm relying on.

[Teslagirl]

It's because she's able to speak properly without all the 1337 breath, resonance, and larynx effort that it takes to make a bass voice type sound as not-half-bad-at-all as she did pre-op. I'll be curious to hear the months ahead.

What is '1337'?

[MeganChristine]

Leet -> elite in hax0r0r0r

[Teslagirl]

Leet -> elite in hax0r0r0r

Now I fell really old. (My tee-shirts say 'The Future is Analogue')

[Rachelicious]

It's probably a slow enough process that no-one will notice and that's what I'm relying on.

Interesting approach. It's easy to pass off voice surgery & rest on the removal of polyps, nodes, or practically anything really. Most people do not actually know much about the voice.

I'll probably do something similar, and pitch gain will just be attributed to the lack of an afflicting condition.

Leet -> elite in hax0r0r0r

Yeah, it really is pretty amazing what some girls can pull off. Bass is not a forgiving voice type. For those curious, her vocal state in the 2month video actually IS quite a bit higher already - the lowest note she sang corresponds to the bottom of tenor range. So already she has gone up one entire voice part (Bass > Tenor > Alto > Sop) which is quite promising regarding future months!

[anjaq]

I think I am probably also a bit of a bass - the lowest tone I can squeeze out is a F at about 90 Hz. In reality I could probably be more of a bariton if I would have sung before.

If pitch increases slowly , definitely saying a removal of nodules and something to fix my deformed vocal chords (I have pictures to prove that one) is a good solution. I already prepped the people at work in case it will happen (hinting towards my bad voice condition, also I dont have to find a way to expplain away my weekly voice therapy sessions). But with Jenny at least, the 2 months post op video and the early recordings showed a very fast increase in pitch and in some others it was like that as well. In some others it took forever and some have not reported back at what point it eventually improved. I still do not know how this happens, but it seems like it is a bit unpredictable. But certainly a somewhat higher pitch would be explainable if a voice conditionw as fixed that was damaging the voice.

[Rachelicious]

But with Jenny at least, the 2 months post op video and the early recordings showed a very fast increase in pitch and in some others it was like that as well. In some others it took forever and some have not reported back at what point it eventually improved. I still do not know how this happens, but it seems like it is a bit unpredictable. But certainly a somewhat higher pitch would be explainable if a voice conditionw as fixed that was damaging the voice.

Even with letsflybutterfly who identified herself as a bass (let's conservatively guess her previous lowest pitch at an F2=90, which it could well be lower) going up to lowest note at a C3=130hz, that is still a 40hz gain after 2 months. If she had a low-D before, she's gained 75hz already!

Let me say from honest experience I've heard lots, lots, lots of women talk in low-tenor register. Especially with a thinner vocal timbre, I think if a bass lady were concerned about 'only' becoming a tenor with Yeson, it is still a tremendous improvement especially with the increased passability of a thinner vocal timbre.

I feel part of the difference Yeson offers is being able to effortlessly speak at a good pitch, as opposed to being able to speak at pitch only with concentration. I know that's a huge factor for me and you can really hear the effortlessness of letsfly's 2 month video.

[Amy1988]

Hi everyone! I have been looking into this place "Yeson Voice Center" more and more. My practiced female voice is coming along but I am still finding great difficulty using it around people I already knew- which leads to difficulties across the board. I want to use it all the time but just... can't... for some reason.

From what I have found, Yeson seems to offer the safest and least invasive voice surgery out there, and according to them they have done over a hundred voices with about an 80% satisfaction rate. The other 20% mainly just felt they did not have enough change- there has been not a single patient who has had any sort of complication that made the voice worse.. aka no risk of losing the voice or sounding hoarse.

I guess the main reason I am so interested is (probably like anyone considering voice surgery): it would "force" me to have the correct voice no matter who I am around. When I do find the confidence to use a near female voice around my friends they seem to respond well, but i find it incredibly unnatural to keep the pitch up- yet I can feel the goodness as they really start to gender me properly from all angles due the way I sound. It's just soooo harrrrdd.. Especially talking loudly which I seem to have to frequently do- because I go to lots of musical events talking to someone in the midst of a loud sound system trying to pass. My voice gets worn out sooo fast like this. Also I laugh a ton, and it's a dead giveaway when I'm trying to pass. I don't want to hate my laugh for that or try to learn a new laugh that doesn't just come from within.

Anyone have experience with Yeson or know someone who's used them? I've already emailed Yeson and they were super on top of getting back to me about my initial questions, but I would love to chat with someone who's actually done the surgery and lives in the US if possible.

Thank you in advance girlies <3 <3

Where is Yeson?

[Shantel]

Where is Yeson?

Seoul, South Korea

[Amy1988]

Seoul, South Korea

Too far. I'm looking at Dr. Haben in Rochester.

[anjaq]

Dont be worried about distance. I would fly to the moon if it meant a good result compared to something less than good by staing here - Ok, maybe not the moon, but actually I could probably get an insurance covered VFS in my countra but would probably rather spend the money for the flight and surgery in Korea than to let them butcher me. Dr Haben seems to be ok though , although we have only one woman here who went there and she is not that long post op now. Plus he will give you a neck scar, if that is of condern to you...