Voice Therapy and Voice Surgery
Find your care
UCLA Health is a safe and supportive environment for transgender and gender diverse patients. Call to make an appointment.
The mission of the UCLA Gender Health Program is to provide healthcare for the transgender or gender-diverse community that is sensitive to everyone’s individual needs.
Voice is important to quality of life. In alignment with evidence-based standards of care, we aim to support patients in adapting their voices and patterns of communication to be more aligned with their gender identity and sense of self. We provide voice therapy and surgery in a gender affirming environment.
Voice Therapy
Our speech-language pathologists offer the following services:
- Voice and communication evaluation
- Voice therapy for gender congruent pitch, resonance, intonation and articulation
- Communication therapy for gender congruent communication including visual and verbal messages as well as positive and confident messages
- Apps to create a personal at-home practice lab
- Group sessions—Coming soon!
Voice Therapy Providers
Voice Surgery
For gender health patients seeking adjustments in pitch which cannot be achieved through voice therapy alone, surgery is recommended in select cases. Within Southern California, the UCLA division of Laryngology is uniquely dedicated to improve the gender health of our patients and will seek health insurance approval and coverage whenever possible. Our surgeons offer nationally leading experience with the following phonosurgical approaches:
Vocal feminization procedures:
- Endoscopic Transoral Laser Vocal Cord Shortening Phonosurgery
- External Approaches including Framework Surgery and Cricothyroid Approximation
- Laryngeal Shave, also known as thyroid chondroplasty or laryngeal chondroplasty, to reduce the prominence of the larynx
Vocal masculinization procedure:
- External Framework Type III Thyroplasty
Care Coordination: At the UCLA Gender Health Program, we understand the unique challenges that gender expansive patients face when accessing health care. That's why our dedicated Care Coordination Team serves as your first point of contact. We offer a variety of services to support you.
