This story originally appeared on Them.
The quest for a deeper voice is something that rings true for many transmasculine people. On subreddits like r/ftm and r/TransMasc, dedicated to helping trans men crowdsource information on ways to obtain their transition goals, how to make your voice deeper is nearly as frequent a topic of discussion as figuring out what form of testosterone to take.
It has long been common knowledge that aside from voice training, there is no way to deepen your voice without starting testosterone-based hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or undergoing vocal masculinization surgery. Particularly for people who feel dysphoric about their voice but maybe don’t want some of the other effects of T, such as body hair and muscle growth, or to undergo surgery, this has long been a point of concern. But a relatively new treatment could be the answer.
Mars Wright, a Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist, wanted to deepen his voice. Though he had been on testosterone for seven years, he tells Them his voice still caused him anxiety. But during a breathwork circle with his friend Eli, a gender doula, Wright heard about testosterone vocal fold injections, a new form of voice masculinization.
Vocal fold testosterone injections involve injecting testosterone cypionate — the injectable form of T used in HRT — directly into your vocal chords. While testosterone-based HRT already causes a deeper voice, the Los Angeles Center for Ear, Nose, Throat, and Allergy, where Wright received his injections, says that vocal fold injections can amplify the known effects of T directly on your voice. While the treatment is relatively new, with the first peer-reviewed study on testosterone injections to the vocal folds published in January 2023, it is no longer in the experimental phase of testing, meaning it is available to the general public.
Documenting his journey on social media, Wright captured his experience with Dr. Abie Mendelsohn, a trained laryngologist, as he received the minimally invasive injections. After each injection, which did not require general anesthesia to receive, Wright says he emerged with a deeper voice. After the four injections that comprise the fill treatment, Wright tells Them that he feels his life has already changed for the better.
Below read about his experience receiving vocal fold injections.
Walk me through the beginning of it. How did you find out about vocal fold injections? How did you get put onto the procedure?
I love this story because community is always helping out community. I went to a breathwork circle for my friend Eli, who’s a gender doula. It was a trans liberation breathwork moment, and one of the guys there was the front desk person for the office that was doing the vocal fold injections. He said that they had this new procedure called vocal fold injections and I was like, “What are you talking about?” And he was like, “It’s a non-invasive way of deepening your voice.”
I’ve had vocal dysphoria and I actually didn’t realize how bad my vocal dysphoria was until I got the procedure. It’s like if you’ve lived with a thorn in your shoe your whole life, you forget that the thorn’s there, but then when you take it out, you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I can walk.”
He told me about the procedure and I immediately looked into it. Because there was another trans person working at the office, it also made me feel so much more excited and happy to work with them because I felt safe and there was community there. Then he told me it would be covered by my insurance.
Walk me through start to finish how was going for your first appointment to get it done? How was it explained to you? What was the process?
The whole process is four shots over the span of six weeks. I went in for the initial consult with Dr. Mendelsohn. I cannot shout him out enough. Every person along this line, I’m so grateful for, because they’ve all been so helpful. But he’s really awesome and he’s been doing gender-affirming care for voices for a long time.
He explained to me that I was not a guinea pig. I was getting something that had been tested for a while. The big thing that he let me know — and I think is important for anybody to know — is that because it’s newer, there’s a 25% chance that nothing will happen. That was something I really appreciated up front. He was like, “If that’s something that’s just going to destroy your mental health, you should know that because there is a potential for that.” Then we would just maybe go for vocal surgery, which is the next option.
Luckily, that didn’t happen. It worked right for me.. The fun thing, too, is they’re just shooting testosterone directly in your vocal cords, and it’s the exact same testosterone that you do for your weekly shot. Which I think is so funny — but don’t do it at home! I brought in my testosterone and we talked probably from longer than the procedure was. I was probably in there for 15-20 minutes and three to five of those minutes were the shot itself. It’s so gross-tasting. The first time was way worse. By the fourth shot, it didn’t really hurt at all, and it wasn’t so weird. But the first one is really gross and weird, and you can taste the testosterone which is crazy. It tastes like castor oil and metal.
The first day after the shot, I couldn’t talk at all and I got really nervous. I was like, “Oh,my God. What’s going to happen? I hope my voice comes back.” I was really afraid. He was like, “There’s a chance you won’t have a voice for 24 hours.” My voice came back and it was immediately deeper. I was like, “Holy shit, this is exciting.” Then it dwindled a little. Then I came back for the second shot, I saw less of an effect, but I actually asked him — because I was so nervous from losing my voice the first time — I was like, “Can we go a little less?” That’s the really exciting part about all of this. You have so much autonomy through the whole process. You can say you only want to deepen your voice a little. I felt like I had so much control over the depth of my voice. My goal was to get as deep as I could, though, so I went for all four shots.
Third shot came; big effect, again. I didn’t lose my voice and it didn’t hurt as bad and I didn’t taste it, so that was amazing. By the fourth shot, it deepened again. I have an app on my phone that shows me the voice tone, if it’s in the feminine range or the masculine range. And now every time I check that, it’s always not just in the masculine range, but in the deeper part of the masculine range. I don’t have to worry about it or think about it. No vocal training. Immediate.
How has it affected you moving through the world? How has it felt after getting it and after feeling your voice deepen?
I did not realize how much vocal dysphoria I had and — obviously just from my experience — but how “less than” I felt because I didn’t have that deep voice. Going through a drive-thru for the first time was this moment of, “If I forgot to think about it, then I might get a ma’am’ed,” which sucks. Or if I’m thinking about it, then it’s just a lot of work, and “Hey dude, what’s up.” That’s not really authentic to me. I want a deep voice, but I’m not like a butch. So going through the drive-thru, I was like, “Oh, my God.” It was those little things that you don’t think about that pile on throughout the day that I think as trans people, we just kind of become accustomed to and think that’s just the way that you have to live.
I went on two trips recently. I got into the Uber at 2:00 a.m. in a different city, which normally would have made me nervous and I would deepen my voice when I would get in the Uber or I would have to play it up. I just walked right on and, “Hey, dude,” in this totally foreign city.
It’s not just that my voice is deeper, but there’s a girth to it that I feel in my throat that just is really euphoric.
Why did you feel compelled to document your journey with it?
One of the major comments I’ve gotten is for people that either can’t or don’t want to go on testosterone but want to deepen their voice, this is a completely new alternative. And I love Dr. Mendelsohn. He’s really really clear about the community in general and specifically mentioned how this is a really great resource for nonbinary folks and folks on testosterone because everybody gets total autonomy. It’s about you choosing how deep your voice is, not prescribing to some arbitrary rules that a doctor wrote 50 years ago.
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