Voice

Our voices can be an important part of gender affirmation for many trans and gender diverse people. This makes sense, as along with our appearance, voices are something that can be central in our interactions with other people.

No matter how your voice may change due to hormonal affirmation or vocal therapy and exercises, or not change at all, its important to remember that voices don’t have gender, people do. You are not required to do anything to change your voice to have it be a part of your gender.

Like appearance, interests, and skills, there is a far greater overlap between what voice ranges that are defined as ‘male’ or ‘female’. These ranges also differ depending on age, dialect, cultural norms, and between different languages. It’s safe to say there isn’t a gendered voice.

If you are a man, your voice is male. If you are a woman, your voice is female. If you are neither a man or a woman, your voice is not male nor female, it’s yours.

Some people will choose to see a vocal therapist or speech pathologist, and practice different exercises and techniques to help change or expand their vocal register and range. This is sometimes called either ‘masculinising’ or ‘feminising’ one’s voice, which can be affirming terms for some people but not for others. We use the language of masculinising and feminising to describe directional changes, and not genders or gendered states.

The voice is made up of a selection of muscles, and just like any other muscle, can be strengthened, stretched, and trained. Vocal therapy is not only about changing the pitch of the voice, but working to change other characteristics like tone, style and inflection, and that you can use your voice in a healthy and sustainable way.

When approaching vocal therapy, it can be useful to think of voices of people that you admire and want to be similar to (both cis and trans). Keep in mind though that no two voices are alike, no matter someone’s gender or hormonal background, and you are unlikely to be able to exactly replicate another person’s voice simply because you are different people. Vocal therapy is a tool to help find your voice, not somebody else’s.

Finding a vocal therapist/speech pathologist

If you are on or able to access an Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) plan with your GP, you can access up to five Medicare rebated speech therapy sessions per calendar year, which includes a $52.95 rebate back from Medicare per session. Adapt the information and resources from Finding A Doctor to help you find the right vocal therapist for you.

The Gender Centre’s speech pathology service is also available with an EPC plan, find more information here.

Voice feminisation

Voice feminisation may, depending on the needs and wants of the person, include raising vocal pitch, changing the tone and inflection of the voice, wording and thematic changes, and more.

When working with a vocal therapist, you will often be assigned a range of vocal exercises that are designed to safely strengthen and stretch the capacity and capability of the voice. What this looks like may differ from person to person.

Voice masculinisation

While lowering pitch in a therapeutic setting is less common than raising pitch, some trans and gender diverse people will seek out vocal therapy for other reasons, or to assist in lowering vocal pitch when they are unhappy with the results of masculinising hormonal therapy.

Taking care of your voice

No matter what kind of practice you do, it’s important to look after the health of your voice. This can include taking lots of rests and breaks, not speaking too much in situations where you have to shout or talk over music or sound, and to stop if your voice hurts at any point.

Hormonal therapy may have some effect on your voice, depending on what hormones you are taking, and a range of other variables.

While both estrogen and testosterone change the size and shape of vocal chords during puberty (which is why adults of all genders sound different to how they did as children), different hormones will have different effects from person to person. This also depends on whether they are taken before, during, or after a natal puberty.

Hormonal therapy started before or early on during natal puberty will have a very similar effect to that of a cis person’s natal puberty, including how it effects the voice. For more information about how hormonal therapy can affect a person’s voice, see Hormones - Masculinising or Hormones - Feminising.

No matter what you decide is right for you, your voice is an amazing thing, a tool for expression and tone, and a vessel for communicating needs, concepts and desires to others.

Vocal surgery is a surgical process intended to change the pitch and/or tone of one’s voice. Historically, these surgeries have only been an option available to trans people presumed to be male at birth, with varying results.

For more information about vocal surgery, check out our page on the subject.

There are also a large range of resources for people of all genders and wants online, including blogs, YouTube videos, and articles. Searching for terms such as ‘vocal training’ ‘transgender voice’ ‘voice MTF’, etc will turn up a range of results and resources.

Several apps exist to help people with voice training like Eva FTM (for voice masculinisation) and pitch analysis apps like Voice Analyst, we have not tested these though so proceed with caution.

There are also a range of products and packages available for purchase online that claim to have all the resources and tools required to undertake your own vocal therapy, often with a steep price tag attached. Almost all of these resources are available for free online, and if you’re looking for some medical support, that money is far better spent either on a licensed vocal therapist, or on other affirming care.