Facial Feminization
Facial Feminization Surgery
Facial feminization surgery (FFS) at YOUNIFY Clinic, Silom, Bangkok, is a staged set of procedures across the forehead, brow, nose, jaw, chin, and Adam's apple, planned from your facial measurements and imaging rather than a fixed template. Each element is quoted in writing after consultation. Most patients fly home within 7 to 10 days; results vary by individual.
Care you can measure
Figures from the YOUNIFY surgical programme.
01 · Assessment
Assessment starts with bone, not with photographs of other people
What determines your result is your own anatomy, not the reference image you arrive with.
Patients arrive with reference images, and those are useful for understanding what you are drawn to. They are not a plan. What determines your result is the thickness of the bone over your frontal sinus, the height and shape of your orbital rims, the position of your hairline, the width of your mandible at the angle, and how your soft tissue sits over all of it. Two patients who bring the same reference image often need different operations.
A CT scan of the facial skeleton is taken before a forehead plan is finalized. The thickness of the anterior wall of the frontal sinus decides whether the brow ridge can be contoured directly or whether the front wall needs to be set back. This is not a judgment that can be made from the outside of the face, and planning it from photographs alone is how under-correction happens.
Imaging is a planning step. It shows what your anatomy allows, not a guaranteed outcome.
What facial feminization surgery actually changes
Facial feminization surgery is a set of bone and soft-tissue procedures that adjust the parts of the face where male and female skeletons differ most consistently. The differences are not subtle once you know where to look. The male frontal bone carries a ridge above the eyes and a flatter, more backward-sloping forehead. The female frontal bone is rounder and more vertical, and the brow sits higher and with more arch. The male mandible is wider at the angle and squarer at the chin. The female mandible tapers.
Surgery does not add a set of features onto your face. It removes and reshapes what makes the underlying frame read as male, so that the face people see matches the person living in it.
Not every patient needs every procedure. Most patients need work in one or two of the three facial thirds, and the consultation exists to find out which.
For most patients the upper third carries the most recognition weight. The brow ridge and the forehead slope are read before anything else, often before the observer is conscious of reading anything. That is why a forehead-first plan is a common recommendation, and why some patients choose to stop there.
The three thirds
Facial feminization is planned across three horizontal thirds of the face rather than feature by feature.
| What sits there | What is usually addressed | |
|---|---|---|
| Upper third | Forehead, brow ridge, orbital rims, hairline, brow position | Brow bossing reduction, glabella correction, forehead lift, hairline position, brow lift |
| Middle third | Nose, cheeks, midface, eyelids | Nose reshaping, alarplasty, tip-plasty, cheek implant or reduction, cheek lipofilling, mid-facelift, upper and lower blepharoplasty |
| Lower third | Jaw, chin, neck, thyroid cartilage | Mandible angle reduction, V-shape genioplasty, chin implant, neck lift, Adam's apple reduction |
How we plan your result
Three decisions are taken with you before anything is scheduled.
Travelling for facial feminization
Who this is for
- Transgender women and transfeminine people seeking facial changes as part of gender-affirming care
- Non-binary people who want specific features softened without a full feminization plan
- Cisgender women whose brow ridge, jaw width, or chin projection reads heavier than they would like
- Patients who have had facial surgery elsewhere and want a second opinion on what remains
- You do not need to have completed any particular step of transition to be assessed here
02 · Procedures
Procedures performed at YOUNIFY
Grouped by facial third. Not every patient needs every group, and the consultation exists to decide which.
Upper third
The forehead slope and the bony ridge above the eyes are read before anything else on a face, which is why work here carries the most recognition weight. Forehead and brow contouring, the upper third procedures, take approximately four hours.
What sits there: Forehead, brow ridge, orbital rims, hairline, brow position.
Procedures: Brow bossing reduction reduces the bony ridge above the eyes, by contouring the outer surface, by contouring and filling, or by setting the front wall of the frontal sinus back and fixing it in its new position. Glabella correction softens the bony prominence between the brows so the transition from nose to forehead reads as a curve rather than a step. Forehead lift repositions the brow and the forehead soft tissue through the same access. Orbital rim contouring opens the upper eye socket border, which raises the apparent height of the eye. Hairline adjustment brings a tall hairline forward at the same time as the brow work.
Middle third
The middle third carries the nose, the cheekbones and the eyelids, and it is planned against the upper third rather than on its own.
What sits there: Nose, cheeks, midface, eyelids.
Procedures: Nose reshaping reduces a dorsal hump, narrows the bridge, and adjusts the angle between the nose and the upper lip. Tip-plasty refines the nasal tip alone, for patients whose bridge is already in proportion. Alarplasty narrows the base of the nose. A cheek implant adds projection over the cheekbone where the midface is flat, and cheek reduction reduces cheekbone width through an incision inside the mouth. Cheek lipofilling restores volume with your own fat rather than an implant. A mid-facelift repositions midface soft tissue upward. Upper blepharoplasty adjusts the upper eyelid fold and removes excess skin; lower blepharoplasty addresses lower eyelid fat and skin.
Lower third
The jaw and chin decide whether the face tapers, and the neck decides whether that taper is visible.
What sits there: Jaw, chin, neck, thyroid cartilage.
Procedures: Mandible angle reduction narrows the jaw angle through an incision inside the mouth, so there is no external scar on the jawline. V-shape genioplasty narrows and reshapes the chin as bone, rather than adding to it. A chin implant adds projection where the chin is short, as an alternative to moving the bone. A neck lift redefines the border between the jaw and the neck. Adam's apple reduction, or chondrolaryngoplasty, reduces the prominence of the thyroid cartilage in the front of the neck and has a dedicated page of its own.
04 · Your team
Performed by board-certified plastic surgeons
Your procedure is performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon in a licensed operating room. Which surgeon performs which part of your plan is confirmed with you in writing after your assessment, before any deposit is taken.
Dr. Thanachot Kamolveerat
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Diploma of the Thai Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
View full profile →05 · Safety
Operating room standards and monitoring
Surgery is performed in a licensed operating facility with anaesthesia care and continuous monitoring throughout.
Licensed operating facility
Procedures are performed in a registered operating room, not a treatment room.
Specialist anaesthesia care
Anaesthesia is administered and monitored by a qualified anaesthesiologist for the duration of surgery.
Continuous monitoring
Vital signs are monitored continuously during the procedure and through initial recovery.
Sterile instrument protocol
Instruments and implants are handled under a documented sterile protocol.
The treatment process
First contact
Message us on WhatsApp or LINE with photographs taken straight on and in profile, in even light, with hair back from the forehead.
Video consultation
A surgeon reviews the photographs with you, explains which thirds carry the most weight in your case, and describes what each procedure would and would not change.
Imaging and confirmation
A CT scan is arranged. The plan is confirmed in writing, with a written quotation, before any deposit is taken.
Pre-operative assessment
On arrival in Bangkok, laboratory work and anesthetic review. Patients on hormone therapy should tell the team, because some regimens are paused before surgery.
Before your operation
You will be asked not to eat or drink anything, including water, for eight hours before your operation.
Surgery
Single stage where the plan allows, under general anesthesia in a licensed operating room.
Overnight stay
Usually 1–2 nights, with nursing observation.
Review before you fly
Sutures, dressings, and a final review with your surgeon before you leave Bangkok.
Follow-up after you are home
Remote review at intervals agreed before you leave.
What recovery looks like
Your surgery at YOUNIFY
From the surgeon who operates to the nurses who follow up, and a private suite to recover in.
Price list
* Indicative prices for reference only. Some items are priced per area. Final pricing depends on an individual assessment. Overseas prices are indicative market estimates for comparison only. Contact our team for a personalized quote.
Your final quote follows an individual medical assessment. You receive a written quotation before any deposit.
Traveling from overseas? See the Thailand package for this procedure.
View the Thailand packageSources
- WPATH Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons: Facial Feminization Surgery
- Uhlman K et al. Outcomes in Facial Feminization Surgery: A Systematic Review. Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine
- Facial Feminization Surgery: A Systematic Review of Perioperative Surgical Planning and Outcomes (2022)
Common questions
How long does facial feminization surgery take?
Between two and eight hours, depending on how many of the three facial thirds are included. Forehead work alone is commonly around four hours. A plan covering all three thirds is longer, and where operating time would become very long the surgical team may recommend two sessions.
Will there be a visible scar?
The access for forehead and brow work is placed within the hair, so it is covered by hair once healed. Mandible angle reduction and cheek reduction are performed through incisions inside the mouth, which leaves no external scar. Nose and eyelid work uses the incisions standard to those procedures. Your surgeon will show you on your own photographs where each incision falls.
How much of the change is visible immediately?
Very little, and this surprises people. Swelling hides the result for several weeks. Most patients see the shape emerging at six to eight weeks and judge the result at six to twelve months.
Do I need a CT scan?
For forehead work, yes. The thickness of the bone over the frontal sinus decides which technique is appropriate, and that cannot be assessed from the outside of the face.
Can facial feminization be done in one operation?
Often, yes. Whether it should be depends on total operating time and on whether one area needs to settle before another is judged. Your surgeon will tell you which applies to your plan and why.
Do I need to be on hormone therapy first?
Hormone therapy is not a requirement for surgical assessment here. Tell the team what you are taking, because some regimens are paused around surgery.
Will surgery change my voice?
Facial feminization surgery does not change the voice. Adam's apple reduction works on the thyroid cartilage in the neck, and although it is a cartilage procedure rather than a vocal cord procedure, the surgical technique deliberately protects the point where the vocal cords attach. Voice modification is a separate field and is not performed at YOUNIFY.
What documents do I need as an international patient?
A passport, and your medical history including current medication. Requirements for gender-affirming care differ by country, and where your home country requires documentation for reimbursement or legal purposes we will tell you what we can and cannot issue.
How is the final price of my facial feminization plan decided?
The price table on this page shows a starting price for each individual procedure to help you budget. It is not the price of your plan, because no two plans contain the same procedures. Procedures listed without a figure are quoted individually. After your consultation and imaging you receive a written quotation covering the procedures in your plan, the anesthetic, the operating room, the overnight stay, and your follow-up, before any deposit is taken.
* This information is for general education. Results and treatment plans depend on an individual medical assessment. Every procedure carries risk. Please consult a doctor before deciding.
Related procedures
Considering facial feminization surgery?
Send us photographs and we will tell you what a surgeon would actually recommend, including where surgery would not help you. Consultations are by video before you travel.
Reviewed by The YOUNIFY Clinic medical team · Last reviewed
Individual results may vary. Please consult a doctor before treatment.