I've listened to some of the voice transformations on here and quite frankly it's blown me away.  Should I go for this too. Here's my problem with it. I'm in my mid 50's and whilst my voice is sort of OK, I don't get mis-gendered on the phone or anything like that (unless I have a cold!!), its no where near as good as the girls who have had the VFS. The other thing is what do I say to work colleagues/friends if I come back from Korea with a different voice. I had a similar issue when I had FFS but I told them I'd had a facelift which seemed to be accepted. I can't think of any sort of reason/excuse to explain a voice change.
I've been stealth for such a long time and I couldn't bear to be outed by myself. I've tried to improve myself and be the best it's possible to be and the VFS would take me to another level, but is it worth the risk.
Please help me come to a decision.

The right answer is the one you feel is right. Are you OK with your current voice? Or do you want to change it? It's as simple as that, but also so difficult.

You can simply say that you had some throat surgery done to take care of some issues that were affecting your voice.

People have throat surgery for various reasons. One example is polyps that might form on the vocal cords and cause voice issues.

It seems clear to me from VFS that although one's voice may sound differently after surgery, it's not a voice that one cannot obtain before said surgery. And if you've been using your current voice for many years, all the surgery will do is make it less tiresome to reach your higher pitch. You've done 90% of the hard work already. It gives one more of a consistency in regard to pitch. It won't transform your voice into something radically different that won't sound like you. And in that regard, I don't think you should worry too much about it. Your 'old' voice should be available post-op too.

Quote from: LizMarie on November 29, 2013, 02:52:34 AM
You can simply say that you had some throat surgery done to take care of some issues that were affecting your voice.

People have throat surgery for various reasons. One example is polyps that might form on the vocal cords and cause voice issues.

I second this! First thing that came to my mind was a vocal chord tremor. Not too sure if that's the scientific name for it but if someone told me they had that, I would simply say "Oh my! I'm glad you got that taken care of!"

I agree with Nicolette, so far what I'm finding is that my new voice sounds remarkably similar to my pre-op "high" female voice did. It is softer and more natural sounding now, but overall it still sounds like me I think. I'm going to continue doing recordings as I recover so I'll have a better idea once I can actually talk again, but that's what I'm finding so far, and I remember Jenny saying the same thing too.

SarahR, you sound fantastic so far. Well done.

Saskia. I have been preparing this option for a while now and some issues played into my hands. I actually did have voice prolems for a while now. Speaking in my present voice for the past 15 years strained my voice over time and I developed issues. I have to cough and clear my throat a lot, I sometimes sound raspy. And I kind of pointed towards that at work, that I do have these issues, cursing about it and using herbal throat pills a lot. Then I told them I need to go to a voice exam, which was actually true. Then i told them the rsult of the voice exam which was that my vocal chords do not come together in some parts of the voicebox. I told them that I got a prescription for voice training but if that doe snot work, they may have to do a surgical correction by closing that gap in the vocal chords to allow me to speak again without straining. Now if I ever do this procedure, they even know exactly what will be done and its not a secret at all. I can even ask for being off work for a while to get this done and choose with them a date that fits the no-speaking period. The only thing they dont know is basically what is the true background of me bein in this situation. I admit, it was a bit things falling into my lap there, as I expected some other issues with my voice or even none at all, but they basically found somethig that can easily explain why I am getting exactly the procedure done at Yesons.

So maybe you could pull off something similar?

Thank you all so much for your input and suggestions. Some of the suggested reasons for voice change would, I'm sure, be believed and accepted.
My partner is completely against this operation and goes ballistic when I even mention it which has really surprised me. So being able to do this would cause a lot of problems and worries. She worried about me when I had FFS and I think she doesn't want all the stress of another operation in a far off country again. I did explain there was no cutting as such but she just won't listen.

I would need to have her onboard to be able to go otherwise I can't do it.

In the meantime I bought the 2 Eva apps (breathe and pitch) to check out how my voice is. If it's within the normal female range (like it was when I was in my 20's) I'll have to just accept my voice is OK, even though I can't stand listening to myself.

Again thank you so much

Try analyzing it with praat, its free and there is a tutorial in the forum.
Everyone i know is very much against VFS. Its because people are scared we loose our voices they have gotten accustomed to or get hoarse or too high pitched or breathy in the end. We are identified by our voices - people know who we are on the phone even they dont see us- They are afraid that this would go away. AFAIK it does not with glottoplasty (Yeson and others like him). My best friend says she will support me if I do it but she still wants me not to do it. My phoniater and voice therapist both are opposed, though they admitted that it is possible that I could benefit from it in some way as I have that dysfunktion developed. this surprised me...

Yes your voice will sound like "you" to people who already know you. This is perhaps one of the greatest parts about this surgery compared to other methods of VFS like CTA and laryngoplasty where the difference can indeed sound like a completely different voice. The tonal difference is a subtle shift as Sarah mentioned

There really is no known risk from the procedure, unless you have had extensive dental work or don't have the strongest of teeth. Age does play a part into the risk in that regard.

So I'm going ahead with this. My partner is now going to come with me which I'm so pleased about - to have her support makes all the difference. I've emailed Yeson a couple of times but not got a reply (are they normally like this), so tomorrow I'm going to try to call them, I'd like to go mid April next year.
I'll use one of the reasons you girls suggested to give to my employer. I'm happy to have made my decision = Thanks for your advice and help

Saskia

That's great to hear Saskia! Remember to follow all of their instructions and you won't be disappointed

As far as communication, Jessie usually got back to me within 24-36 hours, mainly due to the time zone difference. I know there were a couple times it took longer, but no longer than a few days. I'm sure she's getting busier these days with the influx of people going to Yeson, but I'd say double check that you have the right email address, check your Spam/Junk folder, and if everything looks good then just give them a call like you say.

Just a little update -

Got a reply from Yeson today. So Jessie advised me to contact her again end of Jan for the op in April.
Today at work found out I might have to go to Malaysia to give some training for some new colleagues (a week of non-stop talking) and guess when I will need to go - yes March/April time. Grrrrrr

So if this training comes off I'll have to do the VFS afterwards. Right now I'm hoping the training is cancelled even though I really like Malaysia and under normal circumstance would be excited to be going back again.

Just a little update.
I think these are my dates. I confirmed with Jesse this morning

Tue, April 21st: Consultation and Examination
Wed, April 23rd: Operation
Wed, April 30th: Follow-up

I just need to complete those pre-op questions and send off next week. Also the training I'm supposed to be giving in Malaysia will be end of March so no issues now, and my partner is still on board and will be coming with me.
I briefly mentioned to my boss about the surgery (although not the real reason) and said I will not be able to speak properly for a while after. He just joked that it would be quieter in my office.
So just need to sit back and wait. I'll book the hotel in the next month or so and the flights.

Saskia 

Sounds great. Isnt that the time Amy Berlin will be there as well? You two could meet...
What excuse did you use for your boss?

Oh and did you see what Amy is doing for a pre/post recording? I think its cool. Gives people who will do it in the future a really good impresison of what is possible there. Maybe if you want you could do something similar and do various recordings for comparison. I find these pre/post recordings very great help for others who consider this.

Greetings

I just booked my flights. 2 return tickets to Seoul (Incheon) 2200 Euros. Now it really feels like I'm going.

The hotels are quite expensive. Will spend the next few days researching where we can stay thats reasonably priced and close to sightseeing stuff.

Dear Saskia,

Quote from: Saskia on January 08, 2014, 02:14:10 PM
2 return tickets to Seoul (Incheon) 2200 Euros.

This is getting more expensive by the day. Only last week, my partner and I paid 1800 round-trip for 2 passengers.

Quote from: Saskia on January 08, 2014, 02:14:10 PM
The hotels are quite expensive. Will spend the next few days researching where we can stay thats reasonably priced and close to sightseeing stuff.

Check out http://www.philhouse.co.kr/. Jessie recommended them and we booked our stay there. They're self-catering apartments, so if all four of us were staying there, we could have even less stress and save more money by cooking for four people.

BTW, I've sent out a few emails to the relevant jazz clubs in Seoul. If we're lucky, they'll let me have a night, piano solo. I won't be able to talk, but I sure could play!

Take care,

Amy

Oh so you two or four really will meet there? Marvellous - Makes me wish I could join you there, sounds like you will be having fun. But that flight is not cheap at all, wow. It was cheaper to fly to Thailand from here including a week in a hotel for vacation once. So i guess I will not join you just for the fun of it...
Ah by the way Amy - how is your singer friend doing - you said you had a friend who is a professional singer and who went to Yesons for this surgery some weeks ago now? Is she doing well and sounding as great as the others here already?

Quote from: Saskia on January 08, 2014, 02:14:10 PM
I just booked my flights. 2 return tickets to Seoul (Incheon) 2200 Euros. Now it really feels like I'm going.

The hotels are quite expensive. Will spend the next few days researching where we can stay thats reasonably priced and close to sightseeing stuff.

I got the last 2 seats on Korean Air. From where I live there are only 2 airlines flying direct, so when I checked yesterday afternoon there was only 2 seats left, I thought I better book them quick. I was surprised at how quickly it was getting booked up.
Amy - I'll email you my flight details. I'm having to be there earlier than I wanted due to there being no flights left.

On the hotels front, whilst the phil-house looks ok, I think we want a nice standard of hotel but which is close to tourist areas. We don't want to stay in business areas or where there is not much close by. We want to spend max about 100 Euros per night. How much is the Phil-House by the way, out of curiosity.

Good luck, Amy, with the Seoul jazz clubs, would be great to see you play.

Anjaq - yes the flights are really expensive, when I looked before Christmas I was getting 800/900 Euros per ticket. Wished I'd booked then.

More news to follow.