Raising My Voice

This fundraiser is to help me cover the cost of voice surgery.A full description of which can be found here for the curious.http://professionalvoice.org/feminization.aspxFor the past five years the hardest part of being trans has been hearing my own voice.For those of you who’ve met me in person, that may well seem surprising.It’s something I’ve worked a great deal on, and I to most people, it’s not something they pick up on.But for me, it’s something I’m constantly aware of.It’s a constant small crack in my ability to be fully present in my own life.It’s hard to describe what it’s like to have to constantly, consciously, moderate your voice.For the curios, try effecting an accent for an entire day.It can be extremely fatiguing, especially on days when I speak to a lot of clients.By the end of the day my voice often hurts.Maintaining the pitch of my voice, while speaking loudly enough to be heard in noisy environments can be extremely difficult.As well as the tremendous difference this would make to my feeling at home in my own body, I would also dearly love to able to sing again!The surgery itself is relatively simple, involving shaving a small amount of tissue from the vocal cords and the suturing them together such that they are effectively shortened, and the pitch if the voice is raised much like a capo on a guitar. After the surgery, I won’t be able to talk at all for a month, and minimally for two months after that.Sienna is going to go completely crazy XDThe cost of the surgery is between $5250, and $7000, and sadly, is not covered by insurance.While Sienna and I are trying to cover as much of this as possible ourselves, any help, would be greatly appreciated. It’s something I would really love to be able to do this year.If you can spare even a small amount I would be so grateful.Thank you,Rowan(I’ll ad further explanation tomorrow, I’ve been putting off posting this for ages, and I just have to do it before I chicken out again)