Just my yesterday observation of voice depth and female/male range
I yesterday met nice example a couple, boy has much higher voice than girl (somewhere in common girl highness) but still it was clear it is a boy and girl with voice deeper than average man and even with it she sound like a girl
It was little strange when they speak each other, but it is nice example that it is more about voice color and way of speaking than pitch

Okay, then, Ann Lawrence did not do. I take the liberty to link to the following site, then, where all the different and latest surgeries are described in detail, with the pros and cons, the benefits and the downsides with each and everyone of them: http://www.voicedoctor.net/Surgery/Pitch/Feminization-Laryngoplasty

The following procedures are described: Feminization laryngoplasty
Thyrohyoid elevation
Cricothyroid approximation
Reduction laryngoplasty
Pitch-lowering
Laser tuning

Including texts on: Definition
    Indications
    Alternatives
    Presurgery
    Risks
    Procedure
    Recovery
    Instructions during healing
    Benefits

Enjoy.

It is human nature to want the quick-fix...... swallow the pill/ have the surgery/whatever and it's all done!
Unfortunately that does not apply to the voice.
ANY surgery will affect only the pitch and to a lesser extent the resonance.
Pitch is only one relevant part of female voice.
I know many women with deep voices and such women can regularly be seen on television - despite having a low pitch no-one would mistake them for men. 
Tests have established a crucial pitch theshold of around 170Hz.  If you are below this then you are likely to be perceived as male despite other factors of resonance etc.  It is quite easy for the vast majority of men to speak comfortably above this pitch. 

Surgery alone will NOT magically make you sound female - you will simply sound like a male with a thin Pinky-and-Perky voice.
Resonance, speed, speech-pattern, percussive attack, intonation and word-choice all have great relevance.

Surgery will affect only pitch and resonance and even at it's most up-to-date is extremely unpredictable in its outcome.  Since all of the other important factors can be leant and will have to be anyway, why bother with the expense and very real risk?

As always with any surgery, the descriptions and success rates given by those who perform and stand to gain from it are highly suspect.

Quote from: Steffi on January 11, 2012, 02:04:26 PM
It is human nature to want the quick-fix...... swallow the pill/ have the surgery/whatever and it's all done!
Unfortunately that does not apply to the voice.
ANY surgery will affect only the pitch and to a lesser extent the resonance.
Pitch is only one relevant part of female voice.
I know many women with deep voices and such women can regularly be seen on television - despite having a low pitch no-one would mistake them for men. 
Tests have established a crucial pitch theshold of around 170Hz.  If you are below this then you are likely to be perceived as male despite other factors of resonance etc.  It is quite easy for the vast majority of men to speak comfortably above this pitch. 

Surgery alone will NOT magically make you sound female - you will simply sound like a male with a thin Pinky-and-Perky voice.
Resonance, speed, speech-pattern, percussive attack, intonation and word-choice all have great relevance.

Surgery will affect only pitch and resonance and even at it's most up-to-date is extremely unpredictable in its outcome.  Since all of the other important factors can be leant and will have to be anyway, why bother with the expense and very real risk?

As always with any surgery, the descriptions and success rates given by those who perform and stand to gain from it are highly suspect.

I agree 100%

When it comes to feminine voice, I look at it this way:

20% of the overall importance falls into pitch
80% of the overall importance falls into resonance and inflection

voice surgery doesn't help resonance. And you are right....to me, getting voice surgery is like popping in a diet pill from wal mart hoping to loose all your weight. Just doesn't work that way.

Quote from: Steffi on January 11, 2012, 02:04:26 PM
I know many women with deep voices and such women can regularly be seen on television - despite having a low pitch no-one would mistake them for men. 
Tests have established a crucial pitch theshold of around 170Hz.  If you are below this then you are likely to be perceived as male despite other factors of resonance etc.  It is quite easy for the vast majority of men to speak comfortably above this pitch. 

Yep, my average speaking voice is 175Hz and I'm never gendered male. I can actually speak at 225Hz, but I prefer my lower voice - it fits my height and personality. Seems people obsess over pushing their pitch up when other elements are just as important.

Emma Stone is a good example of a really nice, low female voice.

I do not have a link to the most interesting test I read. In addition to a selection of average voices of both sexes some of the subjects were transsexuals who had voice surgery or training, also some very deep voiced women and very high pitched men. 
They played the recordings to several hundred people who were asked to judge the voices.  The study purpose was solely concerned with the identification as male or female, but that question was carefully camoflaged among the other questions to downplay it's significance.
The major conclusions were:-
1) Below 170Hz fundamental frequency the voice was very likely to be judged male, regardless of other indicators
2) No matter how hight it was frequency alone would NOT cause a voice to be judged female, the other indicators had to be there.

I wish that I still had a link to that paper.  The test was extremely well constructed and executed and the results irrefutable.

Take the money you plan to spend on voice surgery and spend it on private voice lessons from someone who understands TG voice therapy instead. Zero risk and you WILL improve your voice. If someone worked on their voice seriously on a daily basis for a year and still sounded like a guy, then maybe consider surgery.