Transgender Voice Therapy and Treatment - Transsexual Voice
LGBTI News
For the male to female transsexual acquiring a female voice which is convincing, even over the telephone, can be one of the most difficult aspects of changing gender role. Speech therapy is a very important part of the gender reassignment package and may or may not be available through medical referral. This information sheet does not make any recommendations or comments on the relative benefits of different ways of changing the voice such as surgery and re-education through speech therapy. The following three articles report on different approaches to the subject.
1) Voice Surgery for Male to Female Transsexuals by Selina of Newcastle upon Tyne (575). First Published in GEMSNEWS No. 24
This is an area of treatment which is sadly neglected and lacking in the UK and about which there is very little reliable information even amongst professional advisers. I am very surprised that so little priority and importance is placed on having a really acceptable female voice. I have found that whilst I can be accepted as female in personal contact (people generally accept what they see) the telephone is the big problem. As I use the phone a great deal for my business, it is a thorough nuisance having to correct wrong gender assumption umpteen times every day.
After much research I discovered two places where the procedure known as “cricothyroid approximation” is undertaken. One is in Beverly Hills, California, USA and the other is Amsterdam, Holland. I know people who have been to both places. The biggest problem with California is the expense both of the treatment and of travel, hotels, etc. Dr Toby Mayer who does this work has been doing it for a considerable number of years and is thus very experienced. I was quoted $7,000 (approx £4,600) for the surgery which included a reduction of the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s Apple). In Amsterdam a consultation with Prof. H.F. Mahieu to see if surgery was feasible cost approx 200 Guilders (£180) and surgery about 3,000 guilders (£1,200). Having decided on this route and having undergone surgery there, I am in a position to describe what happened to me.
More... Transgender Voice Therapy and Treatment › Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex News