Karen,

I'm so happy for you!  You sound very much at peace, which must be a wonderful place to be.

Xoxoxoxo

christie

Karen,

Think you are very passable as you are, but we must acknowledge some women need a lot more work to pass.  This is a very personal choice, and I rejoice you are not one to be addictive to plastic surgery.

Glad you are happy with your results, as I certainly am!  LOL!

Monica

Thanks Christie. I truly have been at peace since gender surgery, for me it was the icing on the cake along with such wonderful support and caring friends I have who have been with me for my journey. Breast augmentation I consider beneath the icing and as it was came at the appropriate time. I wish this could be the same for others travelling down this path.

I totally agree Monica, some need more to pass when born with more male physical traits than others and that is perfectly fine to be the woman they should be, happy and fitting in to the world around us. And thank you for the compliment.

Really glad that you're happy with your new you, it must be a lovely place to be at.

How much happier did the breast augmentation make you and how much bigger are your breasts than was the case? Why ask? Because I'm thinking I might need to do similar, at present using a UK sized 40b bra (which is admmittedly stretched around my back and sides) poses problems because it's a relatively rare size that's not made by all manufacturers, whereas 40c; 40d; 42d etc are much more available, yes I get by, and have more than most of my contempories in the UK, but still I sometimes feel a little disproportionate to my chest / shoulder size.

I wasn't aware of your tracheal shave, have you posted info regarding this on your wordpress blog? Voice therapy is next on my list, and I have wondered about a tracheal shave.

Hips? tell me about them ! I use long outer garments to hide my lack of them..............

Eve x

Eve, I am sure there was a small part of one of my Wordpress blog entries that mentioned that I had a tracheal shave but more likely than not said it in passing. I had a large Adam's apple which I think was a sore spot for me but for others may not had been. There was zero pain involved with this surgery. There were three good size black and blue marks after surgery which took about two weeks to go away completely. Oh, this was done at the same time as gender reassignment surgery.

I regards to how much happier did breast augmentation make me? Not very much, it was simply a end to a means of completing my female physical self. With that said I will say that there is a huge difference in the shape compared to wearing breast forms, did I say huge  yep, I have stared at them several times after surgery thinking about the difference between breast forms and implants, like night and day but will reiterate that I was no where near as happy as having gender reassignment surgery.

Concerning voice therapy, I have from time to time considered it but the more I consider it the less I think it will happen as my only enemy is myself at this stage in the game. The enemy is when around close friends I may lower my tone a tad as I am comfortable around them, realize this and adjust. When I lower my tone it's not much but I do notice it. At this point I much rather (next year) do some skin work to remove wrinkles on my upper lip which will not be done via surgery.

Thanks Karen for your quick reply, I think I have discovered another US/UK difference! LoL. A tracheal shave in the UK is also to alter voice sound to more femme. I don't have much of an adams apple so I don't think that I need it for cosmetic purposes. I've probably got another 18 months or so to wait for GRS on the NHS, the waiting list is so long.

Yes, breast forms are nothing like the real thing, I just think maybe I want bigger to be more proportionate, I think that they are unlikely to get much bigger naturally via oestrogen. 

I must advise you to try Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, it tightens and brightens the skin, it's really worked for me, but it's expensive compared to other manufactuers facial beauty products. I also use Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate around my eyes too. As with most things French it's expensive but it seems to have worked for me. So maybe your lip wrinkles problem could be solved by Clarins?

Cheers, Eve.

Thanks for the advice Eve. The wrinkle issue is pretty ingrained and have tried many high quality products so my next step is to visit a professional which I have done several so far but also discussing this with a close female friend who has much knowledge on this topic.

I would be super cautious about any operation to change your voice. I read countless articles and the majority were not good in outcomes. When I say that I have money to burn on this I do but would only do this is I had a 99.99% success rate and that is not going to happen. Don't want to sound like Minny Mouse or worst, go the other direction. Hear for yourself from one doctor, examples are on left of page, I was not impressed.

http://voicedoctor.net/surgery/pitch/feminization-laryngoplasty

Cheers Karen,

Yes, it looks pretty dodgy, and I don't think I could keep my mouth shut for 2 weeks anyway!

Eve

Dear Ladies,

Went to Karen's link and read it carefully, including the written and audio links.  In the case of the pre and post operative audio samples at different ages, in most cases, I found NO improvement, and in a few I found a falsetto, which I consider a WORSE outcome.

Suggest that when it comes to treatments, medications and surgeries, to wait until it has been in the public general usage for TWO YEARS before undergoing it yourself.  Have saved myself from taking medications and having procedures that were later recalled or discontinued.

Ladies, it pays to do your research!

Yours truly,

Monica

Monica, happy to know it was not just me that found no improvement in the samples. I would be devastated if my voice had similar results.