World renowned laryngologists and voice surgeons have joined forces to improve the quality of voice care for the transgender community. On 10-11 June 2022, they established the International Association of TransVoice Surgeons, at a meeting held, appropriately, in Berlin, Germany, the birthplace of Wendler glottoplasty, the best-known voice feminisation procedure.
Professor Markus Hess, elected president of the association, said: “We aim to improve the quality of voice care as well as surgical techniques for transgender women. Professional training and research on voice feminisation, masculinisation and fine-tuning are important goals of the association.”
The founding phonosurgeons span from South Korea to Colombia and from Finland to India: Chadwan Al Yaghchi (UK), Antonio Ballestas (Colombia), Hakan Birkent (Turkiye), Juan-Carlos Casado (Spain), Ahmed Geneid (Finland), Markus Hess (Germany), Hyung-Tae Kim (South Korea), Dirk Mürbe (Germany), Nupur Kapoor Nerurkar (India), Marc Remacle (Luxemburg), James Thomas (USA) and Kursat Yelken (Turkiye).
The inauguration was attended by Professor Emeritus Juergen Wendler (Germany), who invented the glottoplasty technique. He is pictured with Markus Hess.
The association aims to be a driving force for quality improvement of voice care for transgender patients.
