When it comes to facial feminization surgery, few surgeons in the world bring the depth of training, precision, and expertise that Dr. Harrison Lee does to the operating room. A triple board-certified facial plastic surgeon with practices in Beverly Hills and New York City, Dr. Lee has spent nearly three decades at the intersection of surgical science and aesthetic medicine. Nowhere is that more evident than in his work in Facial Feminization Surgery (or FFS).
A Foundation Built on Bone
What separates a skilled FFS surgeon from others in the field is not just technique. Dr. Lee’s educational background gave him exactly the foundational knowledge of the facial skeleton needed for this specialization. After graduating from Tufts Dental School in an accelerated three-year program, he completed a four-year residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, taught at NYU as a clinical assistant professor, and then returned to school to earn his MD. Continuing on, he spent five years completing a Head and Neck Surgery residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City and a Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship under world-renowned surgeon Dr. Frank Kamer in Beverly Hills. This extensive path to expertise produced a surgeon with a comprehensive understanding of the face, from the underlying bone structure to the overlying soft tissue. A combination quintessential in FFS.
What FFS Actually Involves
At its core, FFS is the process of reshaping characteristically masculine facial features into those that read as more feminine. That process begins with a clear understanding of the structural and traditionally visible differences between the male and female face.
Dr. Lee specifically and carefully considers the particularities that these surgeries require. The male jaw, for instance, descends sharply from the ear and typically forms a near-90-degree angle. It tends to be angular and prominent, often accentuated by a well-developed masseter muscle. The male chin is generally wider and more square. The brow bone is frequently more pronounced, sitting lower and heavier above the eyes. The hairline is another key characteristic that is commonly distinguished by an M-shaped recession at the temples in men, while women tend to have a softer, more rounded hairline along the sides.
Addressing these features requires more than surface-level work. For jaw reduction, Dr. Lee uses a measured, surgical approach that he distinguishes from less precise methods used by other practitioners. «We don’t grind the bone,» he explains. «Once you start grinding the bone, it turns to dust and you don’t know how much you’re taking. I actually measure it and cut it off. It’s a lot more exact.»
For the chin, his preferred technique is the T-genioplasty, performed entirely through incisions inside the mouth. He cuts the chin horizontally, removes a central vertical segment, and brings the remaining portions inward, allowing the overlying skin to follow naturally. This method avoids a cosmetic complication known as a witch’s chin, which can occur when bone is simply shaved down and the soft tissue does not retract as expected.
The forehead is addressed with equal care. Dr. Lee reduces prominent brow bones and, where needed, advances the hairline to correct the M-shaped recession at the temples. This can be performed with a simultaneous brow lift through the same incision, minimizing additional scarring and surgical time.
A Comprehensive Approach in a Single Surgery
One of the defining aspects of Dr. Lee’s practice is his ability to address the full range of FFS procedures in a single operative session, and on the clock. A complete FFS package under his care can include hairline advancement, brow bone reduction, brow lift, rhinoplasty, upper lip shortening, jaw reduction, T-genioplasty, tracheal shave for Adam’s apple reduction, and cheek augmentation through fat transfer and implants. His goal is to complete the full procedure within a six to seven hour window. Any longer becomes uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous for the patient.
Dr. Lee approaches every case without applying a standard formula. They require reading each individual face carefully and making decisions that serve both the patient’s goals and the best possible individual and aesthetic outcome.
Trust Built Through Experience and Results
For transgender patients, many of whom have had complex or difficult experiences within the medical system, trust is a critical part of the patient-surgeon relationship. Dr. Lee has built that trust through a combination of credentials, experience, and results. His patients have included notable public figures such as Caitlyn Jenner, Nikita Dragun, and Dylan Mulvaney, and his reputation in the FFS community is grounded in consistently natural-looking, successful outcomes.
He is straightforward about the broader landscape of FFS care. As demand for the procedure grew, many surgeons without adequate training in facial bone surgery began offering FFS. The outcomes in those cases were often poor. «Not every surgeon is well-versed in this type of surgery,» he says. «If you’re not well-versed in these techniques, you shouldn’t be doing these procedures.»
For Dr. Lee, Facial Feminization Surgery represents both a technical discipline and a meaningful area of medicine. It offers patients the opportunity to align their external appearance with their identity, and it demands the highest level of surgical skill to do well. With 27 years of practice and a surgical background that few in his field can match, Dr. Lee continues to be one of the most trusted and sought-after surgeons in facial feminization surgery today.
