Dylan Mulvaney Just Revealed Her Facial Feminization Surgery Results on TikTok, Inspiring Us All in the Process
By Christine Siamanta Kinori
If you have scrolled through TikTok, you have come across Dylan Mulvaney. The trans influencer has become a familiar face on the platform, sharing quick videos about her daily life and journey towards self-actualization.
In one her latest TikToks, she channelled Audrey Hepburn and danced to Swan Lake to reveal the results of her facial feminization surgery.
In the TikTok, she says she is happy and noted that she is still the same person- just a softer version of herself.
Mulvaney has been courageously showing people what it is like to transition. She explained her operation took multiple hours. She had a brow bone shave, hairline advancement, rhinoplasty, a jaw shave, minor cheek enhancement, a little lip lift, a tracheal shave and a chin reduction.
She added that she was able to pick the areas she wanted to work on because not every facial feminization surgery is similar and patients have the option to choose.
She said it was something more akin to an adventure. “You can get one of those things. You can get all of them. You can get none of them. It’s really whatever you have dysphoria over,” she explained.
In her case, she noted that she wanted to do all the things at once because the recovery process was a lot. It was therefore easier to do it all in one swoop.
According to her, the healing journey was not easy. She went home with bandages and pain medication. Her doctors also ordered her not to eat anything solid for a week. By the fourth day, she said she had some of the most insane swelling she had ever experienced in her entire life.
Two weeks following her surgery, she went back to the hospital to take out the nose cast along with the staples and screws placed in her scalp.
This is what she found the most satisfying- taking the staples off gave her a sense of what the final outcome would look like. By the third week, she went back for steroid shots to get the swelling down and it was the first time she looked at herself and loved what she was seeing.
A month after her surgery, she was more comfortable going out in public but still gave her a few more weeks to get fully ready.
By the sixth week, she felt comfortable enough to share her face reveal with her 10.6 million followers. She explained further that as she continues to heal, she will continue to change.
She promised to keep her followers updated and thanked them for allowing her the time to heal. She also said she will soon talk about the mental healing journey but generally, she seemed really happy with the results.
I loved that she talked about the fact that she was lucky to be able to afford this surgery. She noted that she wanted to get the surgery because of her dysphoria as a trans. She talked openly about the struggle most trans people have to afford these procedures which are equally as important as gender-affirming surgery.
She also pointed out that these surgeries are not covered by insurance and most trans people have to save up for most of their life to be able to afford them. She advocated for better trans healthcare and asked her followers to donate to trans crowdfunding.
I am glad that someone is using their platform to start these conversations and giving solutions to help the trans community. It is important to note that the trans community is one of the most overlooked populations, especially in the United States. Already, some politicians are pushing for laws that will create more obstacles for trans people to access care.
In many states, gender-affirming surgeries are becoming increasingly inaccessible for trans youth. By March 2022, 15 states had already restricted gender-affirming surgeries to youth and pushed for heavy penalties for healthcare providers. In the case of Missouri, gender-affirming surgeries for a minor is legally considered child abuse.
In her video, Dylan broached the subject of mental health. She said the surgery gave her so much peace. By denying these health services to the trans community, we are affecting their mental health and sense of self.
Dylan is brave for speaking and explaining her journey. You can see from the way she is beaming she is happy and excited to be herself even more. What right do we have to deny other people this happiness and peace?
About the Author:
Christine Siamanta Kinori grew up in a little village in Kenya known as Loitoktok near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. All she wanted to do when she grew up was to explore the world. Her curiosity led her to join Nairobi University to pursue a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She later got a job with an amazing travel magazine Nomad Africa which gave her the opportunity to explore Africa. She also writes for numerous travel websites about Africa and tries to create a new narrative in the media about our aesthetic continent.
Christine claims to have somewhat unhealthy addiction to TV and reading, as it is a fun way to keep herself occupied during the long journeys for her travel writing. She is also a believer of letting people be their beautiful selves. To her, love is love and it is the greatest gift we have as humans.
