Facial feminization surgery
Surgery on facial features, commonly shortened to FFS.
Facial feminization surgery, usually shortened to FFS, is surgery on facial features undertaken by some trans women and transfeminine people. It covers a range of procedures rather than one operation, and people typically have some and not others.
It is often described by trans women as having a larger effect on daily life than any other surgery, because the face is what strangers read in a queue, on a bus, at a counter. That is a claim about how the world responds rather than about anatomy.
It is also among the least funded. In many health systems it is classed as cosmetic, which puts it out of reach for most people who want it and makes fundraisers common.
As with everything in this section: it describes procedures, not a person, and someone's face is not a topic that requires their participation.
For anything clinical, a surgeon or a trans health service.
FFS is classed as cosmetic and is not experienced that way
The classification determines funding, and the word cosmetic does considerable work in keeping it unfunded.
Trans women commonly describe it as the intervention with the largest effect on daily safety and ordinary life, which is not what cosmetic usually means.
Saying it well
Say this
- FFS, meaning facial feminization surgery.
- It is a range of procedures, not one.
- Usually classed as cosmetic, which is the problem.
- Not something I discuss.
Not this
- Have you had work done?
- You can tell, actually
- What did you have done?
- You did not need it
Questions people actually ask
What is FFS?
Facial feminization surgery: a range of procedures on facial features, not a single operation.
Why is it considered important?
Because the face is what strangers read, so it often affects daily life more than other surgery.
Is it usually funded?
Often not. Many health systems class it as cosmetic, which puts it out of reach for most people.
Is it appropriate to comment on someone's face?
No, including compliments framed as observations about surgery.