Transgender Voice Care
Unlocking the voice in your heart
How would you like your voice to reflect your gender? What about finding that voice that truly resonates with who YOU are? Our goal in Passaggio, San Francisco Voice and Swallowing’s Gender Affirming Voice and Communication Program is to help you find your authentic voice, and for that voice to feel easy and sustainable. We are here to honor your preferences, while giving you the tools to access a spectrum of vocal possibilities.
San Francisco Voice & Swallowing offers virtual consultations for patients located outside of California seeking gender affirming voice care. If you are currently out of state and are interested in transgender voice surgery for pitch elevation, please call our office at (415) 839-8639 to learn more about how Dr. Katherine Yung can accommodate your care.
What Elements of Voice Can We Help With?
There is much more than the pitch of the voice that can contribute to gender perception. In fact, shifting pitch and resonance together are the two most important factors. Other areas that may or may not be targeted, depending on your preferences, include (but are not limited to) intonation, non-verbal communication, articulation, reflexive sounds, and more. Voice therapy can maximize ease and efficiency of voice, in an accessible pitch range that is more congruent with one’s gender identity. Most people we work with find that voice therapy is all that is needed to find their most authentic voice.
Will I Need Surgery to Achieve My Desired Voice?
Surgical options are also available, as needed. Surgery can be performed to adjust the appearance of one’s neck. Pitch modification surgery in conjunction with voice therapy is another potential option. Because the surgery only addresses pitch, voice therapy will help you to address resonance and other voice and speech targets, as well as to ensure you have the tools to optimize post-surgery healing. Rehabilitation after pitch modification surgery can be quite arduous. Because everyone’s needs are unique, the team works together with you so that you are fully informed of the risks and benefits of pitch modification surgery before deciding if that is an appropriate route for you.
San Francisco Voice offers Gender Affirming Pitch Elevation Voice Surgery along with voice therapy which changes the pitch of a person’s voice to be more in line with their gender identity. Below is a before and after of a patient’s voice transformation using pitch elevation surgery.
Voice Feminization Surgery Results
Passaggio
[puh – sah – gee – oh]
- Bridge, crossing, passageway
- Transition or middle part of the singing range
- Gender affirmative voice program at San Francisco Voice and Swallowing
Trans-led voice program
Our voice center is the first in the country with a gender affirmative voice program that is trans and non-binary led, thus bringing a level nuance and understanding to this work that is rare. Aside from being experienced voice specialists, we are leaders in the field of gender affirmative voice, and we are revolutionizing the way in which our medical colleagues are caring for you. Trans or cis, the members of our interdisciplinary team are deeply committed to ensuring that you get the best possible care, and that your experience with us is euphoric.
Giving back to the Community
Supporting trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming voices extends beyond what we do here in the clinic. It is one of Passaggio’s missions to support the health of the trans community as a whole. Each quarter, a portion of our proceeds are going to a local or national community organization.
Black trans lives matter! Aside from the current COVID-19 pandemic there is current global momentum to address the public health emergency that is racism. Due to highly disproportionate harmful impact of policing, violence, and incarceration on black trans lives, a portion of our proceeds are going to support the TGI Justice project, a group that is led by and serves transgender, gender variant, and intersex people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. To learn more and to join us in donating to this organization, go here: Support Black Trans Leadership.
Education
One of our goals with Passaggio is to train other trans leaders in gender affirmative voice training. We are available for shadowing and training opportunities for trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming speech language pathology students.
Schedule a Consultation for Transgender Voice Care
For more information on the Passagio Voice Program, contact San Francisco Voice to meet with our Transgender Voice Specialists. Call us at (415) 839-8639 to schedule an appointment at our office in the Bay Area today.