How to Choose an FFS Surgeon in Istanbul: Licence, Plan and Red Flags

To choose a facial feminization surgery (FFS) surgeon in Istanbul, check six things before you pay a deposit: the Ministry of Health authorization of the agency and a named hospital, the surgeon's specialty and FFS case volume, a CT-based written plan that lists every area, your own WPATH SOC8 documentation, a clear length of stay, and written aftercare and revision terms. Packages arranged by Estetica Istanbul start at €10,060, covering the partner surgeon and hotel nights; flights are not included. Compare prices only after those six checks are passed.

Start with the licence: Ministry of Health authorization

Türkiye regulates health tourism under the Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health, published by the Ministry of Health in the Official Gazette on 26 April 2025 (No. 32882). Under it, agencies that arrange treatment for foreign patients must hold an International Health Tourism Authorization Certificate, now issued through USHAŞ, the state-owned International Health Services company, and must record patient cases on the HealthTürkiye portal. Ask the agency for its certificate number, ask which hospital will admit you, then ask that hospital for its own authorization. An agency that cannot name the hospital before you pay is a red flag on its own.

Hospital accreditation is a separate question from the licence. Our guide to JCI certification in medical tourism explains what that label tells you and what it does not.

Check the surgeon, not the brand

FFS is bone surgery on the forehead, jaw and chin, combined with soft-tissue work on the nose, hairline and lips. Plastic surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons both perform it, so prefer a surgeon with high, regular FFS volume over one who does it a few times a year. Ask for the surgeon's full name, specialty diploma and the number of FFS operations they performed in the last 12 months. Ask to see before-and-after photos of patients with a similar starting anatomy, taken from the same angles, and ask which of those cases had forehead bone work rather than only a brow lift.

Ask which forehead technique the surgeon plans and why. Reducing a prominent brow ridge can mean burring down the bone, or opening and setting back the front wall of the frontal sinus when the bone over it is thin. The surgeon should explain which one you need from your scan, not from a selfie.

Demand a written, CT-based plan

A serious FFS plan starts with imaging. Forehead and jaw work need a CT scan so the surgeon can measure the sinus and the bone before promising a result. The written plan should list every area — hairline, forehead, brow, nose, cheeks, jaw angle, chin, lip lift, tracheal shave — with a yes or no next to each. Two quotes for "FFS" can differ by thousands of euros simply because one includes the forehead and the other does not, as our FFS cost comparison across five countries shows.

The plan should also state the hospital, the number of hospital and hotel nights, and what happens if you need to stay longer. The facial feminization surgery package in Istanbul arranged by Estetica starts at €10,060 and includes the partner surgeon and hotel nights; flights are never included.

Medical readiness: what the surgeon will ask you for

Partner surgeons work to the WPATH Standards of Care, version 8 (SOC8). For adults, SOC8 recommends that a qualified health professional confirms that the gender incongruence is marked and sustained, that you have the capacity to consent to the specific operation, and that other health conditions that could affect the outcome are managed. You bring that documentation yourself. Estetica and its partners do not provide hormone therapy, psychiatric letters or legal gender recognition.

Expect questions about smoking, blood-thinning medicines and hormones. Estrogen raises the risk of blood clots, and some surgeons ask patients to pause it around major surgery. Only the doctor who prescribes your hormones should change that schedule.

Istanbul vs Italy: FFS prices compared

Italian FFS is usually quoted procedure by procedure, and published figures vary widely. The medical-travel platform Bookimed gives a typical range of $20,000 to $40,000 for FFS in Italy, with a median of about $20,000 based on 2025–2026 invoices. On the same platform, the Santa Caterina da Siena clinic in Torino is listed with an estimate of $12,300 to $14,200. At the European Central Bank reference rate of $1.1188 to the euro on 26 October 2026, that is about €17,900 to €35,750 for the typical range and about €11,000 to €12,700 for the Torino estimate.

Against those figures, the Istanbul package at €10,060 is roughly €900 to €2,600 below the Torino estimate and about €7,800 below the Italian median. The Torino listing does not say whether hotel nights are included; the Istanbul price does include them. A direct flight from Milano Malpensa (MXP), Bergamo (BGY) or Roma Fiumicino (FCO) to Istanbul takes about 3 hours, so the extra cost is one return ticket.

The stay is the part patients underestimate. Read how long to stay in Istanbul after FFS before you book the return leg, and keep that ticket changeable.

Questions to ask on the surgeon video call

Book the surgeon call before you pay the deposit. Ask: How many FFS operations did you perform in the last 12 months? Which areas do you recommend for my face, and which would you leave alone? Do I need a CT scan, and who reads it? Which hospital will admit me, and for how many nights? Who sees me if I have swelling, numbness or an infection after I fly home? What does a revision cost, and who pays the hospital if one is needed?

With Estetica, a video call with an assistant is free, and a €30 video call with the partner surgeon is the first paid step after you receive an offer; the €30 is credited when you book. A booking is held with a €500 deposit, refunded if you cancel at least 14 days before surgery and before the flight is booked, otherwise kept as a 12-month credit.

Red flags

Slow down or walk away if you see any of these: a price quoted before anyone has seen your photos or scan; a single "full FFS" price with no list of areas; a surgeon who will not join a video call before surgery; no named hospital; pressure to pay in full within 24 hours to keep a discount; promises that the result is guaranteed or the operation is risk-free; and no written answer about aftercare once you are home.

FFS is performed under general anaesthesia and carries real risks, including infection, numbness, asymmetry and the need for revision. It is not risk-free. A surgeon who tells you otherwise is selling, not advising.

The six-point checklist

Before you pay: an authorization certificate for the agency and a named hospital; the surgeon's name, specialty and yearly FFS volume; a CT-based written plan with every area listed; your own WPATH SOC8 documentation; a clear length of stay; and written aftercare and revision terms. When all six are in place, price is the last comparison you make, not the first.