Voice Feminisation in Transgender Women

The voice is a reflection of our identity. In the case of transgender women, there may be a gap between perceived male voice and female appearance. Indeed, hormonal treatment in transgender women has no effect on the voice quality. This gap can have negative consequences on everyday life in banal situations such as telephonic contact leading to limited use of phone calls and social isolation. Differences between female and male voices seem to be socially determined and do not depend directly on sexual dimorphism of the phonatory organs. Speech therapy might thus be indicated as a vocal support for transgender women. Only few studies have examined the impact of perceived voice on the quality of life of transgender women.