XEX MAG
In recent news, Bruce Jenner has come out to the world as a transgender female, and had adopted the name Caitlyn. After a very public interview with Diane Sawyer, and gracing the cover of the new issue of Vanity Fair, Caitlyn debuted her much more feminine appearance. New York City dermatologist and owner of MirSkin Inc., Dr. Tabasum Mir, gives her thoughts on what procedures were necessary for Bruce to transition to the knockout we now know as Caitlyn Jenner.
Article & Interview T. Cooper
How do you feel about Caitlyn Jenner’s journey?
I feel like you can never fully understand what’s going on in someone’s life or in their mind if you’ve never been there. When I look at what she’s going through I can only relate it to any kind of struggle I experience in my life. I know that [when you’re experiencing hardship] the goal is always to become happy again, and for that I can only applaud her. I’m glad that she’s doing what it takes to make her feel happy again and be true to herself.
Where you shocked that Caitlyn came out to everyone in such a big way?
Not at all, because of her affiliation with the Kardashian family. When Caitlyn was Bruce Jenner, he had such a close connection to one of the most famous families in pop culture. On top of that, he was probably one of the best know Olympians, who’s still relevant in the media, because of his involvement with this family [the Kardashians]. I don’t think that she [Caitlyn] had a choice but to be so public about it; and my thought process is that if she was going to be public about it, she might as well have just gone all out. The paparazzi are constantly watching her! If she were anyone else she could have done it in seclusion, but there are lenses on her every move all the time because of the popularity of the show [“Keeping Up with The Kardashians”]; so she had no choice at all. However, with that being said, I think she did it with complete fireworks and just told the world “Look at me, here I am!” If she was going to do it publicly, I feel she did it the best way possible. It was a very elegant interview with Diane Sawyer, and a very beautiful photo shoot with Vanity Fair.
For those who don’t know, can you explain what facial feminization is and how someone would go about achieving it?
Of course, first of all I’d like to say that it’s not easy! Physically and emotionally this process takes a lot out you. Facial feminization is the process of taking someone from looking masculine to looking more feminine. What a feminine face generally tends to mean, is taking a face that is more angular and making it more round with softer edges; you’re basically trying to soften the facial features.
Is transitioning from male to female dangerous for your health?
That’s kind of like a blanket statement. I feel that when you are transitioning, you need to start with your mental health first. Speaking to a psychologist or psychiatrist to make sure that you are mentally stable enough to deal with what is about to happen is so important, a lot of people don’t know that you really need to take care of your mental health. As for the procedures involved, any and every surgery has dangers; so you need to plan properly. You need to make sure [when transitioning] you go to a licensed physician and not an underground facility. Unfortunately, if you watch the show “Botched”, you’ll see that there are a lot of people who want more feminine features that will go and get cement injected into their faces, or cement injected into their breasts and buttocks by complete strangers – that is absolutely dangerous! Like I said, any surgery has dangers, so you need to put yourself in the hands of a good medical team. Only get procedures done by a doctor – you’d be surprised how many people don’t. If you are a male transitioning to a female, please don’t take any shortcuts, and go to licensed professionals. Bruce [now Caitlyn] is fortunate enough to have access to really great physicians; a lot of people, because this is such a taboo thing, are not using medical doctors [for feminization procedures]. After you choose a doctor, you still need to make sure that they are familiar with the transitioning process, just because they’re a doctor does not mean that they know how to do this properly.
With the progress that Caitlyn has made thus far, how long would you say that she has been getting treated?
I feel like it’s been about six months, this is why I think the Diane Sawyer interview was done in December or January. It takes a long time for the swelling to go down after having surgery – a nose job alone takes a full four weeks to heal from! For her to look that good, with no signs of face swelling on that cover, it had to be a minimum of six months. It’s not easy, it’s not quick, and it’s not painless.
What facial treatments do you think that Caitlyn has had?
I notice that Caitlyn has a more petite nose, a softer jawline, and more defined cheeks to make herself appear more delicate [than she did before her transition]. I believe that she has altered the forehead line, changed the hairline, had lip filler, cheek enhancement whether by filler or implant, a brow lift, re-sculpturing of the jawline, and I would not be surprise if she had eye surgery to make the shape of her eyes wider (women tend to have bigger eyes than men). It’s a very lengthy process, there are a lot of needles and a lot of knives, this is why when I think about how fast Diane Sawyer and Vanity Fair happened, I wonder when it was actually done. The time frame is just crazy to me! I have never treated Bruce Jenner [now Caitlyn] or participated in any of his procedures, but in my professional opinion as a physician, this is what I think [was done].
Other than facial feminization treatments, do you think that Caitlyn has had anything else done?
Shaving of the trachea (Adam’s apple) had to be done. Breast implants 100%, she’s had very modest, naturally sized implants put in. I’m also willing to bet that she’s had laser hair removal done on her beard, neck, and chest area. She had a nice figure before [transitioning] so I’m not sure if she’s had body reshaping yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if down the line she got fat placed into the hips and thighs to create more curves.
Are the procedures that Caitlyn received pretty standard to transition, or did she go a little further than the average transgender female?
It’s no further than normal, the procedures that she had are pretty standard for a transgender female. What I will say it that it’s cost prohibitive, not everyone [transitioning] can afford some of the work she’s had done such as the lip injections and things, but she did not go too far at all.
In your professional opinion, did her doctors do a good job?
Yes they did a great job! Everything that she [Caitlyn] did was done quite tastefully; in fact she looks way more natural than a lot of women that come to see me for things [laughs]. Seriously, some women come to me with cheeks out to another zip code and still want more [procedures], I won’t do it though.
Have you ever helped a transgender female transition?
Never, but I have given lip injections and cheek fillers to lots of male drag queens [laughs]. I’ve also had patients that have transitioned already come in for treatments, but I’ve never taking someone from male to female.
If Caitlyn was your patient, would you have done anything differently?
Not at all, she looks really good. They [her doctors] kept it really classy, they kept it really natural, and they really respected her anatomical features – they just enhanced her. Although, I’d like to see her coming out of Walmart with no makeup or Photoshop to see how she looks then, but I’m sure she’ll be just as gorgeous.
If you were to see Caitlyn right now, what would you say to her?
[Laughs] “Congratulations girl!” Really, I would congratulate her on this big, big, huge statement that she’s making. She probably came from a place of deep sadness and embarrassment, and she now owns her life. “Welcome to your new life!” is probably what I would say to her.