Voice modification surgery

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Surgeries and procedures

Top surgery Enlarging (breast augmentation) Reducing or removing (mastectomy or breast reduction) Bottom surgery Changes to the gonads Removing testicles (orchiectomy) Removing ovaries (oophorectomy) Changes to the phallus Creating (phalloplasty) Removing (penectomy) Making a clitoris more like a penis (metoidioplasty) Changes to the vagina Creating (vaginoplasty) Removing (vaginectomy) Changes to the labia Changes to the uterus Removing (hysterectomy) Sterilizing (tubal ligation) Stopping periods (uterine ablation) Uterus transplant Combined changes Removing penis and testes (emasculation) Removing most or all genitals (genital nullification) Creating a vulva (Vulvoplasty) Creating a scrotum (scrotoplasty) Sterilization Other surgeries and procedures Adam's apple reduction Facial surgery Voice modification surgery

Voice modification surgery, also known as phonosurgery, is an umbrella term for a variety of surgical procedures that alter a person's voice, and can be done as part of a gender transition if HRT and voice therapy are not sufficient. Voice therapy is recommended to be done both before and after voice modification surgery.

Surgeries to make one's voice more feminine are more common than surgeries to make one's voice more masculine.

Cisgender people may also undergo voice modification surgery in certain circumstances, such as if they are intersex, have an illness directly affecting their hormones (i.e. ovarian tumor producing androgens), or have to take HRT as a non-gender-related medical treatment.

Voice feminization surgeries

• A procedure called "anterior glottic web formation" creates a band (or "web") of scar tissue at the front of the vocal cords. This surgery raises a person's vocal pitch by eliminating their ability to make lower pitches. This surgery is not recommended for people who use their voice professionally (such as singers or other vocal performers) because it has a side effect of narrowing the airway. This surgery is also known as "Wendler glottoplasty".

• Another procedure for vocal feminization is called "cricothyroid approximation" or CTA for short. This raises a person's pitch by increasing the tension of the vocal cords. However, the effects of CTA are not long-lasting, according to Mayo Clinic, and this surgery is no longer commonly done, according to Johns Hopkins. CTA also has the side effect of making the Adam's apple more prominent, which may cause dysphoria in transfeminine people, necessitating a tracheal shave.

Voice masculinization surgeries

• "Thyroplasty type 3" decreases a person's vocal cord tension, thereby giving their voice a lower frequency.