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2015 Here I Come! (Some Assembly May Be Required)

Started by Ginny, June 11, 2014, 12:24:12 PM

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Ginny

Alright! I know its only been five months on HRT, but I am already trying to plan my next year.  I can get one surgery next year. VFS @ Yeson, FFS @ probably Toby Mayer in CA, or GRS with I'm leaning towards Dr. McGinn.

What I have been told by those around me about me wanting FFS: I don't look very feminine / have a lack of masculine facial features. Miss-ed or ma'am-ed about 98%+ when out and about.

What I have been told by those around me about me wanting VFS: Would not have guessed that I'm male or not using my natural voice. Get ma'am-ed on phone 100% of time even if I use my male name.

I would really like to have to stop tucking, as that's just continuously irksome to me. I don't register my penis as a penis and my brain seems unable to identify what its supposed to be. Also I would like to start dating finally (only took me 28 years to desire to do this >< ), never really a drive before as I would have classified myself as asexual, but I don't want any extra baggage hanging around.  If I do decide to date someone I will notify them that I used to be a boy if it comes up or I have a need to tell them, but I would really like to please my guy as a regular woman. From there we can both agree on VFS or FFS if needed. Yes, I know arousal should not be a top priority in this matter, however; I do tend to be honest and starting about a month after hormones it has been really hard not to think about being with a guy and last week I walked through a cologne trail at work and my knees nearly buckled. The other two surgeries I sort of view as going above and beyond what I need.

However, I would like to take experiences and opinions into account because, even though its fading, I still don't like to make quick and rash decisions.
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Pictures taken April 15 and Yesterday (pardon the crazy eye, I can not get a good pic to save my life lately).  Voice recordings 5mo ago for male, and today for my everyday voice.



Everyday Voice: F0~ 185Hz
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Wsg5dWwqXj

Male Voice: F0 ~166Hz (like nails on a chalkboard when I listen to it >_< )
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0tW6hkTilYa
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EllieM


Well, the voice works and I don't see your face as masculine. So... while the decision is ultimately yours and yours alone, in your sandals, I would opt for the GRS first.
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LittleEmily24

Something that I've noticed from having spoken to a few other transwomen, the voice is something that becomes perfected after a while 0_o 3 transwomen i asked about voice training told me this: "I use to worry about my voice, but now (x) years later... my voice is pretty female and I wasn't getting any voice training, I just kept speaking in a feminine tone and feminine pronunciation and eventually it kinda just stuck, now its my natural voice"

So I guess sometimes the more you get use to speaking in a female pitch and tone, eventually it kinda finds its home in your vocal chords :3

As for FFS; from what i've seen, i think its good to let the hormones do a bit of work on your face and cheeks and what-not to see how it rounds out your face and softens your features before opting for FFS, because from the transition videos i've seen (that to my knowledge do not include FFS) the face changes SO much just on hormones alone... not to mention that there are small details that can shape your face drastically such as; head hair, eyebrows, facial hair (whether its minimal or extreme, sometimes just a bit of shadow can change the look of a face so much), weight loss, weight gain, etc.

I've only been on HRT for coming up on 4 months and according to my mom my nose has shrunken in width :P meaning my bridge has slimmed... didnt even know such a thing was possible, and i don't know how to use contouring makeup techniques yet so I know it's not my make-up lol.

Soo honestly, i would put my cards in the GRS table as well... and consider how lucky you are to be getting miss'd and ma'am'd as much as you do... I still get misgendered often and get ma'am'd about 45% of the time, and I cant for the life of me see a male ANYTHING in my face OR body... at least not something that says "this person is obviously male!" And if you get Ma'am'd over the phone too (considering that phone speech is muffled and changed to a different pitch or tone sometimes)

Its still early on for you xD by next year you might find yourself doing away with some of the decisions you think you need to make. I actually envy your cheeks... you have more cheeks than me >_< and your chin is cute and small. And from hearing your voice, it sounds fine to me and just needs a bit of fine-tuning. Granted; if you want to have a voice you can effortlessly use, then go ahead and get VFS :P but you'd be surprised what your voice can get used to the more you practice...

Example: I use to not be able to reach notes in the range of Paramore... it was a huge struggle for me, and after having practiced singing paramore for a few months constantly in my car ~ fast forward to 3 years later and I'm singing things in a much more higher pitch; so much so in fact, that i can't sing paramore anymore because its too low for me LOL. Your vocal chords are like muscles, they can change and adapt to new things just like any other muscle in your body.
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Ginny

#3
Thanks. Looks like I may want to start electrolysis down there soon! Am not looking forward to that.

And Emily, I can't figure out why you would be getting misgendered because you actually look pretty girly.  I don't know if this is a compliment or not, but you actually look like a few lesbians I've met through my mom and her wife.

I may start reading more in the voice surgery forum and try to pick up a few exercises that may assist me. If you have any exercises you may think would work, would you please PM me? And its funny you mentioned cheeks, because my supervisor was talking about my high cheekbones a few hours before I posted this  ;D.

Oh on thoughts about being misgendered, perhaps a profile view with an adams apple or gait?

Thanks again!

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Add on Edit (b/c I don't know bumping rules):
So I think I'm going to have to start coordinating things between my Endo, Electolysist, and a GRS Dr. I think I'll be shooting for soon after my quarterly hormone pellet dose, so either mid-Jan to early-Feb or mid-April to early-May! I'll have been living full time and on HRT for a year come January 9th. The great thing is that my work so far is 100% behind me, though I'll have to find out about insurance (currently going on the assumption its not covered as worst case). And by that time I should have around 300 hours of PTO on Jan 2nd if I only take off 5 days between now and then, almost 2months!
My my my! So many preparations! I'm going to have to train a protegee to take over my area so I don't come back to what I started off my area with (an utter catastrophe devoid of any organization).

So my new questions would be: Does anybody have any advice that they wish they were given on the topic of GRS (both for Pre and Post)? Was there anything unexpected that happened to you or shocked you about finding out? And finally, does anyone have any cookies or other baked goods on them that they can spare? \(^_^)/

PS: At this point I'm thinking I will do VFS the following year, however; I will have to wait and see what I'm feeling next summer or fall.
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