I had VFS with Dr. Courey at Mount Sinai last year, so I can chime in!

The first 6 weeks are rough - I sounded like a sultry grandma who smoked for 40 years. After the stitches dissolved around the 6 week mark, my voice got significantly better and quickly at that. By the 12 week mark, it was natural sounding but still had inflammation here and there, so long periods of talking usually made me a tad sore for a day. At the 6 month mark, I'd say I was 100% but still figuring out little things with my voice - fine tuning, if you will.

At the 1 year mark, I realized I never think about my voice - it's so fluid and natural. I've been to queer meetups where people thought I was there as an ally, lesbian, or something, but never trans. Even other trans people wouldn't catch on until I talked about my transition lol

Edit: note that I saw an SLP who specialized in helping trans people. I saw him for almost 2 years prior to VFS and he was the one who figured out I had prior vocal cord damage that prevented me from getting good pitch. I continued training with him for about 6 months post-op until we both realized that my voice fit me perfectly and I wasn't having any issues.

Funny I see this post now. I was just in a trans discord last night and a new girl was in voice chat with us. I had no clue she was trans until she started talking about her transition and having had voice surgery in South Korea. I didn't get much more info than that, so I hope that helps.

i haven't looked too deeply into vfs, but patients from my local vfs surgeon (who uses yeson techniques) aren't even supposed to really speak at all until at least 2 weeks to a month after surgery. i think patients generally also need to do additional voice training to adjust to their post-surgery voice.

It can take 6 weeks for the voice to start sounding feminine after surgery. Up to a year for hoarsenes to go away.

So I am roughly 1 year posed VFS. Certainly my voice has been evolving... I definitely have issues with chronic inflammation which lower the frequency. I can do some vocal warm ups early in the day and have a pretty high frequency for the rest of the day, but then I go to sleep and the next morning I wake up low again.

Also if I take an anti-inflammatory such as prednisone then I will shoot all the way up to 200 to 220 Hertz when I tend to wake up around 140 Hertz. That's a pretty dramatic difference just from inflammation.

My hope is that in another year or two the chronic inflammation may reduce, but I have to wonder if some of it may be autoimmune modulations from COVID exposure or vaccinations or other things. For example I didn't really have allergy issues until more recently. That is pretty common these days. My ex-wife and trans sister both have autoimmune diseases that they didn't have before the pandemic.

I had VFSRAC with Yeson and I'm about 6 months post. I had anterior commissure detachment from an overly agressive tracheal shave. My average was around 125hz, and I could barely get to 165 and I had a ton of vocal cord spasm. Now I speak around 180 naturally, and with minor effort 210. I'm still dealing with a good bit of vocal spasm, and have been recommended to do another botox injection, but I just haven't had a chance to get that done.

Anecdotally, my voice pitch continues to become higher as the vocal spasms go away. I feel like I naturally avoid higher frequencies because I can't produce a lot of volume and my voice will probably crack.

4 months post VFS with Dr. Yung. No regrets whatsoever. Gained over 100hz in pitch. Was gravelly for the first 8-10 weeks, now smoothing out and very happy. Still a bit breathy, and will remain that way, but so happy!

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I had surgery with Yeson 6 years ago and it's the best thing I've done for myself. I don't feel self conscious when I speak anymore. The first 5 months were tough but my voice steadily increased in pitch. Now I speak comfortably around the 200-220hz average. It can go higher up to 240 or low to 180 depending on the mood. But yeah keep in mind that's just the average. I don't make many sounds lower than 180 but I can definitely reach 400hz easily if I'm excited. I tend to be quite chill though 😁

You're not supposed to speak at all for 1-2 month after surgery in South Korea (Yeson). Check out their YT channel https://youtube.com/@yesonvoicecenter they have lots and lots of results there. A lot of threads about them here too. Although my assessment is 3 years old at this point, they seemed to be great and they were my choice, but COVID happened, Korea was in lockdown till 22, by then I had no money for the surgery, so I never went.

Sounds dangerous. I rather just take voice lessons