Help Emma Grey Get Bottom Surgery!
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Hi all,
My name is Emma Grey and I am a transgender woman currently trying to raise money to help with cost of Gender Confirmation Surgery. I have known that I have been transgender for most of my life but was only recently brave enough to act on it and to start becoming the person I am today. This surgery will allow me to actualize myself and bring me so much relief! However, due to the current state of the medical and insurance establishments I am stuck raising a large chunk of the money on my own. I need your help!!!
The Costs
My current struggle after all I have been through (see story below) is simply being able to afford the copay/deductible for the surgery and additional assistance while I am not able to work. I currently work 2 jobs and rely on both of them for my income. I will not be able to work for at least 6 weeks and I live paycheck to paycheck. After the countless numbers of appointments, hoop jumping, and crossing my fingers I am almost there, and I am not willing to let this last piece stop me from ultimately reaching this goal! I simply refuse to let money stop me from being able to actualize myself and my body. I refuse to fail, and I can’t do this without your help!
How You Can Help
First and foremost, I wouldn’t’ be alive if it weren’t from the support of friends and family. I also would not be able to have gotten this far in this process without the support of my community and I am so grateful and appreciative that you are considering sharing this page or donating to it.
Any donation is helpful great, or small. To help me get the word out please consider sharing this page to your Facebook Timeline!
I can’t do this without your help! If you consider yourself an ally, please consider this as an opportunity to give back to a community that is often under-served!
I have also set up a community care calendar for people to help me out post surgery with food, dog care, and personal medical care. If you live in the Minneapolis area and want to help, you can sign up for shifts here!
If you would like to hear my story please read below!
My Backstory
This journey has been hard! Over the last two years I have struggled as I have slowly lost important people in my life, gotten divorced, been abused by the medical system, been assaulted for being trans, and have been hospitalized for my mental health. However, I have learned and grown throughout all of that and I am proud to be standing on my own to feet.
Despite the many challenges associated with my transition I wouldn’t change my journey for anything. It has been hard, but it has also brought me great peace and the more my body changes the more I feel at home in it.
This surgery is the next step on my journey. It is something I have thought long and hard about and I know that it will help so much by bringing my body and gender identity in line with each other and will be instrumental in bringing me peace from often debilitating gender dysphoria I face on a daily basis.
I have had many struggles with the medical community since coming out. Finding transgender care has been a large barrier to getting the access to treatments that I require. I have decent insurance, but it still carries large deductibles and has its limits. I still must pay out of pocket to see a therapist that specializes in LGBT issues. My hormones cost me several hundred dollars per month, and any routine doctor’s visits carry a large copay with them.
Getting to This Point
I initially started the process to have Gender Confirmation Surgery 18 months ago when the Mayo Clinic started to perform these surgeries. Before that there was no one in state that performed this surgery and out of network care would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, my insurance carries a Mayo Clinic exclusion policy which I appealed over the course of six months. Ultimately, I was denied coverage and put the idea away. My heart was broken but I had no other options.
This Spring a new surgeon at the University of Minnesota started to perform these surgeries and I thought that I finally may be able to do this if I only I could jump through the many hoops that are required. I met with the surgeon for an initial consult and was informed that I would need two letters of support. One from a licensed psychologist and one from a licensed psychiatrist stating that I am of sound mind.
These types of letters are not required for other medically necessary procedures and are just a small example of the gatekeeping that can keep trans people from getting the services they require.
After a few months of appointments, I was able to obtain these letters but due to being hospitalized for mental health issues last September the letters were rejected. Once again, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to get this surgery and my heart broke again. After waiting several months, and much deliberation I decided to try again. I was able to obtain new letters that indicated that I was doing much better and miraculously these were accepted by the surgeon and ultimately my insurance company as proof enough that I wasn’t mentally unsound. I was given a surgery date of August 9th. Needless to say, I jumped for joy and my heart sang!
Now I am in the process of putting the final pieces together which includes raising this money! Can you help?!
My name is Emma Grey and I am a transgender woman currently trying to raise money to help with cost of Gender Confirmation Surgery. I have known that I have been transgender for most of my life but was only recently brave enough to act on it and to start becoming the person I am today. This surgery will allow me to actualize myself and bring me so much relief! However, due to the current state of the medical and insurance establishments I am stuck raising a large chunk of the money on my own. I need your help!!!
The Costs
My current struggle after all I have been through (see story below) is simply being able to afford the copay/deductible for the surgery and additional assistance while I am not able to work. I currently work 2 jobs and rely on both of them for my income. I will not be able to work for at least 6 weeks and I live paycheck to paycheck. After the countless numbers of appointments, hoop jumping, and crossing my fingers I am almost there, and I am not willing to let this last piece stop me from ultimately reaching this goal! I simply refuse to let money stop me from being able to actualize myself and my body. I refuse to fail, and I can’t do this without your help!
How You Can Help
First and foremost, I wouldn’t’ be alive if it weren’t from the support of friends and family. I also would not be able to have gotten this far in this process without the support of my community and I am so grateful and appreciative that you are considering sharing this page or donating to it.
Any donation is helpful great, or small. To help me get the word out please consider sharing this page to your Facebook Timeline!
I can’t do this without your help! If you consider yourself an ally, please consider this as an opportunity to give back to a community that is often under-served!
I have also set up a community care calendar for people to help me out post surgery with food, dog care, and personal medical care. If you live in the Minneapolis area and want to help, you can sign up for shifts here!
If you would like to hear my story please read below!
My Backstory
This journey has been hard! Over the last two years I have struggled as I have slowly lost important people in my life, gotten divorced, been abused by the medical system, been assaulted for being trans, and have been hospitalized for my mental health. However, I have learned and grown throughout all of that and I am proud to be standing on my own to feet.
Despite the many challenges associated with my transition I wouldn’t change my journey for anything. It has been hard, but it has also brought me great peace and the more my body changes the more I feel at home in it.
This surgery is the next step on my journey. It is something I have thought long and hard about and I know that it will help so much by bringing my body and gender identity in line with each other and will be instrumental in bringing me peace from often debilitating gender dysphoria I face on a daily basis.
I have had many struggles with the medical community since coming out. Finding transgender care has been a large barrier to getting the access to treatments that I require. I have decent insurance, but it still carries large deductibles and has its limits. I still must pay out of pocket to see a therapist that specializes in LGBT issues. My hormones cost me several hundred dollars per month, and any routine doctor’s visits carry a large copay with them.
Getting to This Point
I initially started the process to have Gender Confirmation Surgery 18 months ago when the Mayo Clinic started to perform these surgeries. Before that there was no one in state that performed this surgery and out of network care would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, my insurance carries a Mayo Clinic exclusion policy which I appealed over the course of six months. Ultimately, I was denied coverage and put the idea away. My heart was broken but I had no other options.
This Spring a new surgeon at the University of Minnesota started to perform these surgeries and I thought that I finally may be able to do this if I only I could jump through the many hoops that are required. I met with the surgeon for an initial consult and was informed that I would need two letters of support. One from a licensed psychologist and one from a licensed psychiatrist stating that I am of sound mind.
These types of letters are not required for other medically necessary procedures and are just a small example of the gatekeeping that can keep trans people from getting the services they require.
After a few months of appointments, I was able to obtain these letters but due to being hospitalized for mental health issues last September the letters were rejected. Once again, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to get this surgery and my heart broke again. After waiting several months, and much deliberation I decided to try again. I was able to obtain new letters that indicated that I was doing much better and miraculously these were accepted by the surgeon and ultimately my insurance company as proof enough that I wasn’t mentally unsound. I was given a surgery date of August 9th. Needless to say, I jumped for joy and my heart sang!
Now I am in the process of putting the final pieces together which includes raising this money! Can you help?!
Organizer
Emma Grey
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
