If You Can’t Tell…

That I’m trans you need a hearing aid.

I joke about it but it is true for me and many trans women, once we speak you can tell that we’re trans. I know many trans women who had voice training and/or surgery and one trans woman I heard has lost her voice because of surgery,

Vocal Feminization for Transgender Women: Current Strategies and Patient Perspectives
International Journal of General Medicine
Published 12 February 2020 Volume 2020:13 Pages 43—52
By Hyung-Tae Kim

Abstract: Voice feminization for transgender women is a highly complicated comprehensive transition process. Voice feminization has been thought to be equal to pitch elevation. Thus, many surgical procedures have only focused on pitch raising for voice feminization. However, voice feminization should not only consider voice pitch but also consider gender differences in physical, neurophysiological, and acoustical characteristics of voice. That is why voice therapy has been the preferred choice for the feminization of the voice…
[…]
Conclusion
Voice feminization, not just pitch increase, is a very complicated and complexity modulation procedure. It is a comprehensive medical process in which all knowledge of speech science including laryngology, speech language pathology and acoustics must be applied. Voice feminization is a long transition journey that changes a male phonatory system including phonatory organs and pattern to a female phonatory system. From the patient’s perspective, treatment modality and direction should be selected considering the order of the transition process, economic aspect, and social role. From a medical provider’s perspective, the course of treatment should be determined as a method that can maximize the safety of patient’s voice and minimize side effects while feminizing the voice.

I thought about voice training and I briefly thought about surgery but I quickly dropped the idea as being too risky. Voice training was a viable option, I have heard many trans women who have going through voice training and it made some change but those trans women that I know still have problems on the phone. I have also noticed that after time most of them start slipping and reverting to their old pattern of speech.

Another reason why I haven’t done voice training is that for me I lived a lie for 60 years and I don’t want to live another lie. If you can’t accept me for who I am,  well...