Successful MtF FFS Transformation with Dr Bart Van De Ven

I have had some subsequent procedures in the intervening years, though of course, ultimately, these have all been based on Dr Bart's original work. Am still hoping to return to Dr Bart for a further lip lift in 2020.

I've had 3 separate surgeries at the 2Pass Clinic in Antwerp, Belgium over a period of 12 months. Two of the surgeries were full-FFS related, with Dr Bart van de Ven, and the other surgery, a breast augmentation (please see my other review for this).

I feel very happy and pleased with how things have turned out. Though as a teenager, I looked cute and quite femme, by the time I'd reached my fiftieth year, my face was rather masculine and 'hardened'. Aside from improving skin quality and stimulating a small amount of fat accumulation in the 'apples of my cheeks' HRT did very little for my face - because of the underlying bone structure and overall shape it had developed by fifty years of age. However, post-surgery, quite remarkably - on a good day, (and typically, if I'm nicely made up) I can go a long way towards passing (maybe even more so than I can presently accept or believe). Plus I'm still really only at the beginning of my learning and practice of female voice and gestures.

Because the two FFS surgeries were a year apart, (the second FFS surgery was for some fairly small revisions to the first op, which was a full-FFS) it's felt like I've had a lot of time to think about almost every aspect of FFS (and my experience of it). As regards my conclusions: firstly, I'm certain that only one or two other surgeons in the world, (if any at all, actually), could have achieved the transformation in my look which Dr Bart has managed to effect. Not only did my face need attending to as a 'whole', but parts-wise, my nose was very 'fleshy' and putty like (and not a small nose). I also had a large chin (both width wise and the area under the mouth) - and, a large gap between the base of my nose and the vermilion of my top lip. One of the few feminine facial features I possessed was a minimal amount of forehead bossing, (though I still underwent a type III reconstruction so as to make the most of this feature).

In short, I required quite 'aggressive' FFS if I was to look feminine.

I'm very glad to report that there's barely a remnant of those previous masculine features left on my face. In their place, I feel I can now look really nice, and way more female than I would ever dared to believe would be possible for me. [As a contrast, I recently met a girl who'd had surgery at another clinic, and though before her surgery, she'd looked more femme than I did before mine - she wasn't satisfied at all with the level of transformation effected by her surgery - in that it just wasn't 'aggressive' enough and had therefore made only a small difference to how female she looked.]

Secondly: I came to understand (at least for myself) that revisions, even minor ones, can be quite stressful - more so than a primary operation. This is because of several reasons including: the need for another anaesthetic; the risking of what one already 'has' for something potentially 'better'; the need to really trust one's surgeon; as well as, in practice, there being only so many times any particular feature can be 'safely' operated on. Plus with revisions, there's a further cost (even if fairly nominal) plus a further time period involved, before one can finally move on from (fully completed) surgery.

The revisions I had were to do with small adjustments to my nose and top lip, for things which hadn't come out quite as perfectly as they might have, first time around. After I enquired about the possibility of the revisions (at about the 5 month mark post-surgery) Dr Bart was always clear and upfront that he would willingly do the revisions (according to the contractual terms in place) - and I consider he has done the revisions extremely well. In fact, I feel the combined effect of the revisions is significantly better than how things would have looked if things had gone perfectly to plan, first time around.

The following really helped me: I've read a number of study papers and comments from experienced plastic surgeons - and have come to understand that the reality of facial surgery, particularly when substantial changes are being made, is that revisions should be considered a possibility which may well be required - and not come as a huge surprise. Really, in just the same way as with writing this review, I will most likely need to later edit the text for readability (even though penning this review is obviously far simpler than transforming a face). What I gleaned from reading such papers is that the best facial surgeons don't pretend that revisions will never be required - rather, they'll offer a viable revision pathway in case it's needed. In my case, I'm extremely thankful such a pathway was in place and that Dr Bart fully honoured it.

A bit about the 2Pass Clinic. In my estimation, 2Pass is truly a world class clinic. It operates over 3 floors in a building which is all newly fitted out and scrupulously clean. The second floor, which is the surgical floor is amazing terms of it's equipment and staff organisation. I got to observe things going on around me for a couple of hours in recovery, and I felt I was in a top private hospital being cared for by highly skilled professionals. The top floor of the building is the guest-house and this has been made very pleasant and I felt extremely comfortable, both in my room, and spending time socialising with other guests in the communal rest area and kitchen. It's worth noting that the clinic is only 10 minutes from Antwerp airport and that Antwerp itself is a very pleasant and enjoyable city.

If I were to have any further surgery in future years, I would feel very secure trusting my face again to Dr Bart - in fact he would be my first choice, for all the above and more reasons.