Voice Therapy

How is your voice???

For many male to female transsexuals this seems to be the stumbling block to passing.  The number of times I have heard something like
"Oh, I seem to pass reasonably well - until I open my mouth and speak" or similar phrases.

I don't know what is with trans women and voice, but many just seem to give up at that point as if it is impossible to achieve a reasonable voice which will not give rise to immediate doubts and double looks.

We all go through many painful procedures, including (for most of us) SRS, laser and/or electrolysis treatments and very often Facial Feminisation Surgery - often paying out a small fortune for these treatments so that we can go about our daily lives without a second glance and without fear of transphobic bullying.  A few of my friends are in this position, yet there is a mental block there about changing their voice.  They have had their surgeries, often costing them their life savings, and would pass any day of the week, but resolutely refuse to change their voices for some reason.  I have heard all sorts of reasons even the ludicrous "Well this is my voice that I was born with and if people don't like it, that is their problem"  Well they were born with the wrong body too, but went through all sorts of agony to finally be true to themselves, so what is it when it comes to voice that many just refuse to even try to alter it??  There could be three reasons that I can think of immediately:-
1.  They are just too lazy to bother
2.  They like the 'shock' value of presenting as a woman but then shattering that illusion by speaking in a male voice
3.  They do not wish to conform to the binary gender concept and wish to become part of a third or even fourth gender type (but why go through all the pain and cost of surgeries if that is the case??)
If you can come up with any other suggestions, please use the comment box below this article.

Maybe it is because some think that it will cost them a small fortune for voice therapy and having spent their life savings on surgical procedures to change their bodies, they can no longer afford this last, but crucial, step.

Well let me let you into a little secret - you can, for the grand cost of just $20 (around £13).  These exact same voice files were used by a voice therapist in the USA who was charging her clients around $100 per session to feminise their voices.  I can vouch that they work - provided that you practice with them.  I learnt the technique within a week of using them and a further three or four weeks to polish it off.  Now it is so deep seated I don't have to think about it,  I just talk naturally, even when I have just woken up in a morning.

I am forever grateful to Melanie Anne Phillips who produced these tutorials files - they have enabled me to get on with my life without any worries about double takes and finger pointing.  To hear a sample of her voice click on the link below and open it with your mp3 player program
http://www.heartcorps.com/products/samples/voice-audio-sample.mp3
To purchase the tutorial files please visit her web site at:-
http://heartcorps.com/journeys/voice.htm
For the $20 you will get both the audio and video files which can be played back on your computer - however, I burnt the mp3 audio files via my cd burning software onto a CD as .cda files so that I could play them whilst I was driving and I practised whilst driving.  I also converted the video files  to a format which I could create a DVD for watching on my television which was also useful.