Gender Affirming Surgery of the Face and Neck

This book presents an overview of Facial gender confirming surgery (FGCS) and the importance of it in the surgery and transgender communities. FGCS uniquely requires blending together surgical and artistic abilities in order to transform the face into a new identity. Given the recent emphasis of providing care to transgender patients, the area of FGCS has experienced rapid evolution and growth. This text is essential to protect patients and arm surgeons with the knowledge needed to safely perform these surgeries. 

This text is divided into three parts to let the reader fully digest what FGCS includes. Part 1 discusses general care of the transgender patient and provides the physician with an overview of the health and societal issues specific to this patient population. Part 2 is the main focus of the book and discusses facial gender confirming surgery and such as feminizing surgeries. Lastly, part 3 discusses voice surgery and voice therapy.

Gender Affirming Surgery of the Face and Neck can be applied in multiple medical fields, including Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Facial Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Laryngology, Speech Pathology, Oculoplastic Surgery, and Dermatology.

Rahul Seth, MD

Associate Professor 

Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 

Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery 

University of California San Francisco 

San Francisco, CA 

P. Daniel Knott, MD 

Professor 

Director, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 

Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery 

University of California San Francisco 

San Francisco, CA 

Drs. Knott and Seth are full time faculty at the University of California San Francisco in the Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery. Their journey into facial feminization surgery (or facial gender confirming surgery) stems from the unique environment that San Francisco offers where uniqueness and individuality is celebrated without judgment. Both Drs. Knott and Seth obtained their training at Cleveland Clinic and University of California Los Angeles. They perform aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, head, and neck. Their in-depth experience in surgery of the face has lent them to perform facial gender confirming surgery.  

Drs. Knott and Seth co-direct a coveted fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Their fellow gains extensive experience in facial gendering conforming surgery, facial aesthetic surgery, rhinoplasty, facial trauma, facial nerve reanimation, head and neck free flap microvascular surgery, and local and regional flap facial reconstruction.  

Along with teaching fellows and residents on a daily basis, they are involved in numerous research activities at any given moment and regularly publish research articles in peer-reviewed journals. They also regularly contribute to textbooks with writing chapters.  

Unique to facial gender confirming surgery, Drs. Knott and Seth find this transforming surgery to be exceedingly powerful because it allows a patient to be comfortable with who they are and to express themselves in a way that the rest of take for granted. Ultimately, it enables the patient to become the productive and content person they strive to become.