A Weight Off My Chest

My name is Mason, and I'm an almost 40 year old AFAB man. I'm a father of a pair of amazing teenage boys, a husband to a dedicated and loving man, and a mildly beleaguered seat to three beautiful cats. And I am very much in need of top surgery.

I've known that I was a boy since I was only 5 years old, but lived a highly restricted, sheltered life until I was 18, and didn't know that trans men even existed until I was 20. At the time I was a poor, newly married college student, and transition seemed completely out of reach. I had been 'blessed' with a very endowed figure, and at the time wore an H cup. I was 25 when my sons were born, and the changes made to my body by the pregnancy made my goal seem even further away, having pushed my body up to an N cup in breast size. I slipped into a very deep depression, exacerbated by post-partum issues, that resulted in my becoming a shut-in and lasted for many years.

I had no health insurance, no employment, and no hope, but at the urging of a friend, I created a GoFundMe to finance starting hormones when I was 32. Thanks to that GoFundMe, many years ago, I started my transition officially on Oct 24th, 2014, when I took my first shot of testosterone.

The way that starting HRT has improved my life is immeasurable, but starting my transition gave me the confidence to once again find employment, to start taking care of my body, and to start looking toward a future that I honestly hadn't thought existed.

In 2020 my spouse and I finally reached a point where we could afford to get health insurance and the idea of having top surgery was finally, for the first time in my life, on the table. I talked to my doctor, found a surgeon, and started a journey of self-improvement.

From Oct 1, 2020 to now, I have lost almost 70lbs, gotten my blood sugar under control, lowered my cholesterol levels, and worked out to improve definition in my upper body. I have gone through two surgeons (one wanted me to hit a weight goal that isn't feasible without bodily mutilation) and now have an official surgery date of Nov 22, 2021.

I had saved up the money for my copay, the money for my flight, and arranged for a place to stay during the surgery.

And then I was informed that the hospital is out of network, which increased my 10% copay to a 30% one. Suddenly my money needs outpace my savings.

Today I got the news that I am being lain off from my job, as my position is being outsourced overseas. Which means that the FMLA that I would have qualified for to cover the time that I would be out of work (2 weeks) is no longer going to be an option.

This means that, despite doing everything that I was supposed to, I need help. With the potential loss of work, plus the additional costs of surgery, I'm about $3k short of what I need. Any money earned will be put toward my surgery, and should I exceed the needed funds, then any further money will be donated to others that are in need here on GoFundMe. I can think of at least two trans men that are struggling to gather funds necessary for surgery off the top of my head.

Please help me to take this weight off my chest that has been a burden for me since I was 12 years old.

If you can donate, then thank you. If all you can do is share, then thank you for that, too.