Facial Feminization Surgery

Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include includes various bony and soft tissue procedures such as brow lift, rhinoplasty, cheek implantation, and lip augmentation though the term "FFS" is generally not regarded to include facial hair removal.

Faces contain secondary sex characteristics that make male and female faces readily distinguishable. "Typically, females have a more pointed chin and less nasal prominence than males. Additionally, females have a less angular nasal tip.... The forehead is quite different in males from females, particularly the areas of the brows and the mid-forehead, and the shape of the skull affects the drape and contour of the skin. Changing the shape of the skull will assist in changing one feature from distinctly male to female."

For many transsexual women, FFS is medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria. It can be just as important or even more important than genital forms of sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in reducing gender dysphoria and helping trans women integrate socially as women. Studies have shown that the mental health-related quality of life for trans women who have had FFS is significantly higher than for trans women who have not had FFS. While most FFS patients are transsexual women, some non-transsexual women who feel that their faces are too masculine will also undergo FFS. FFS is occasionally sought by cross-dressers and drag queens.

FFS techniques are derived from maxillofacial and reconstructive surgery as well as general plastic and cosmetic surgery. Douglas Ousterhout pioneered what is now called FFS during the 1980s and 1990s in the U.S.A. There are only a small number of surgeons globally who specialise in FFS.