Original article is here (paywalled 😑). Not sure how far to take these results with such a tiny N but interesting if it can be replicated with a larger sample size. It looks like they initially hypothesized that HRT had caused the changes but ended up rejecting that idea in favor of it being the voice training.
It’s no more risky than any other transition surgery. I don’t know why we demonise vocal surgery in trans fem circles instead of treating it like any other transition surgery, when ultimately, that’s what it is.
Maybe it’s because I’m risk averse or maybe I’m just not as well read on it, but I do personally think it’s generally riskier than other transition surgeries.
For vaginoplasty, even if the job is botched, you’ll still be able to walk normally. FFS, you’ll still be able to talk and eat and smell normally. Breast augmentation, you can still lift your arms normally. Plus since these three are the “main” options available, there’s more people doing it and more people experienced in handling the complications.
For vocal surgery, if the job is botched, you can permanently damage your voice and not be able to shout. And even then it still takes a degree of voice training to get a good result (althought it does lower the bar). The relative rarity of the procedure also does not inspire me to take that kind of risk.
I’m open to being convinced that it’s not as risky as I think it is, but I do think that it’s a pretty risky option. Especially when you compare it to voice training on its own, which is way harder to fuck up. And voice training will get most people across the line.
It’s easy to not get the results you want from VFS, that’s true. Many people don’t. But no one loses their voice from it. Most of the horror stories are from a form of VFS (cricothyroid approximation) that surgeons haven’t performed for years, and even then it wasn’t the lose of voice, it was unwanted changes in voice, and failure of the surgery over time.
Put it this way. I know more people that are disappointed with their VFS than their GRS, but I know far more people that have had complications (sometimes serious) from their GRS than from their VFS.
I’m absolutely behind not getting any surgery you don’t want, particularly VFS, because it’s so often not going to give the results people want. I just take issue with the idea that it’s dangerous, because it gets in the way of people making informed choices about their own transition options. In reality it’s no more risky than any other surgery.