Andy's Top Surgery
Donation protected
Top Surgery for Under Age 18 No Longer Covered in Alberta
We were dismayed and disheartened to learn last fall that funding has been discontinued for trans kids under 18 that are in need of top surgery here in Alberta. There are no surgeons offering this surgery privately here either, which means even paying out of pocket is not an option. In order to access this life-changing surgery, the only option is to seek out of province, out of pocket care.
The stress and anxiety these kids live with due to gender dysphoria can be severe and the impact this cut has had on these kids and their families will be far reaching. Trans kids are at much higher risk for suicide, substance abuse, bullying, anxiety disorders, and other mental health issues and for many, being able to access timely intervention for gender dysphoria is critical to their well being and even their survival. It impacts their ability to fully engage in their lives and their learning when they are alienated from their own bodies.
It breaks our hearts especially to think of the kids whose scheduled surgeries were abruptly cancelled last year due to what appears to have been an ill-conceived, poorly communicated, arbitrary change. This would have created so much additional stress and trauma for these young people and their families.
For anyone wanting more insight into the severe challenges facing transgender healthcare in our province, please read this Huff Post Article from September 2019 .
A Message From Andy, Age 16
I shouldn’t have to convince anyone that I need this surgery, and yet here I am having to fundraise after the government stripped me of a covered one. I have never felt comfortable in my body. Puberty just took it to the next level. I thought the discomfort I felt was normal, but I couldn’t help but notice how thrilled the other girls were in the locker room.
When I went shopping for my first bras, I thought I should’ve been excited, but I wasn’t. The bra made me feel alienated from myself and I no longer knew who I was. The only relief I had that day was when the dressing room lady at Sport Chek called me “young sir.”
Since that day, I have resisted swimming, school sports, and wearing certain clothes. I have probably swam a total of four times, since 2016. My shoulders have shifted forwards and curved inward as a reflection of my resistance of my chest being visible. I have a stack of T-shirts tucked away in my closet because I can’t wear them without feeling like someone I’m not. I’ve had panic attacks during gym class because I can’t wear a sweater. I’ve spent four and a half years of my life living beneath my potential. At this point, I don’t even know what it feels like to be comfortable in my own skin.
I do know how ecstatic others like me have been after their surgeries. I have watched many videos of someone like me seeing their chest for the first time and crying because it’s finally the way it is meant to be. I wish I was born normal, even though such a thing doesn’t exist. This surgery is the only thing that can do this for me. This surgery is what I have spent years thinking about. This surgery is essential if I want to live my life to the fullest.
A Message from Andy's Mom, Christy
Andy identifies as non-binary / trans-masculine, and uses "them/they" pronouns. Andy has known they want top surgery from the time they first heard about it, around age 12 - 13. It was, in fact, part of their emerging understanding of an identity that our society had not even given them the language for. It is their final destination in being able to feel safe in society and comfortable in their own skin, and to rid themselves of an often crippling dysphoria that has made it impossible for them to participate in team sports, swimming, and many other activities cis-gender kids take for granted.
Top surgery is more important to Andy - a straight A student - than going to university. It is more important to them than ANYTHING going forward. And now it is not even an option in our province for two more years plus wait time. Given the other cuts to healthcare that we have been seeing, even in the midst of a global pandemic, we are deeply concerned that our current government will continue to neglect transgender health issues and that further cuts may ensue, possibly to the surgical coverage for ages 18+. To ask any child who’s been counting on this surgery to wait another 2 - 4 years and still face the possibility of discontinued coverage seems unreasonable at best, cruel at worst.
The ideal time for Andy to have this surgery is NOW, while they are still in high school, before adding the extra challenges and responsibilities that come with leaving home and living adult life. We want them to be able to feel safe and settled in their own body so that they can focus on their schooling and their future and making their own difference in the world. We want this for our kid, and we want this for ALL kids in Alberta who need this surgery.
Out of Province Top Surgery Date Scheduled late August, 2020
Thankfully, we have been given an opportunity to get Andy access to top surgery through a private clinic in Ontario later this August. The surgery will cost $10,000 out of pocket. Because of Covid-19 and the need to stay as healthy as possible leading up to the surgery, we are planning to drive the 3500km across the country rather than fly. We will need to stay in Mississauga for at least one week following the surgery for Andy to receive the necessary follow up care and be cleared for travel back to Alberta. Because of the short timeline, the amount of time involved, and the fact that Andy’s dad Lachlan is without work due to Covid, it is not an easy time to come up with an extra $10,000. Hence, this fundraising campaign.
Please Help if you Can
If you can spare $10, $20, $50, or even $100, every dollar will help and we would be ever so grateful.
If you are willing to share this campaign with others who might be willing and able to contribute, even if you cannot, that too would be an enormous help.
Of Special Note for Albertans:
Not all families are capable of being as supportive of their transgender youth as we fortunately are. For the sake of these marginalized and vulnerable kids and their families, we ask anyone who has the extra time and energy to PLEASE participate in a letter writing campaign urging our government to re-instate this coverage through Alberta Health Services as soon as possible.
You can provide feedback directly to Alberta Health Services at: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/patientfeedback.aspx
You can also contact your local MLA here: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_report&memPhoto=True&alphaboth=True&alphaindex=True&build=y&caucus=All&conoffice=True&legoffice=True&mememail=True
The Alberta Liberal Party has an active online petition to increase funding to the Metta Clinic in Calgary, the only specialized clinic available to transgender youth in Alberta, which is currently only funded enough to run a half day each month, here: https://www.albertaliberal.com/protect_trans_youth_fund_metta
We were dismayed and disheartened to learn last fall that funding has been discontinued for trans kids under 18 that are in need of top surgery here in Alberta. There are no surgeons offering this surgery privately here either, which means even paying out of pocket is not an option. In order to access this life-changing surgery, the only option is to seek out of province, out of pocket care.
The stress and anxiety these kids live with due to gender dysphoria can be severe and the impact this cut has had on these kids and their families will be far reaching. Trans kids are at much higher risk for suicide, substance abuse, bullying, anxiety disorders, and other mental health issues and for many, being able to access timely intervention for gender dysphoria is critical to their well being and even their survival. It impacts their ability to fully engage in their lives and their learning when they are alienated from their own bodies.
It breaks our hearts especially to think of the kids whose scheduled surgeries were abruptly cancelled last year due to what appears to have been an ill-conceived, poorly communicated, arbitrary change. This would have created so much additional stress and trauma for these young people and their families.
For anyone wanting more insight into the severe challenges facing transgender healthcare in our province, please read this Huff Post Article from September 2019 .
A Message From Andy, Age 16
I shouldn’t have to convince anyone that I need this surgery, and yet here I am having to fundraise after the government stripped me of a covered one. I have never felt comfortable in my body. Puberty just took it to the next level. I thought the discomfort I felt was normal, but I couldn’t help but notice how thrilled the other girls were in the locker room.
When I went shopping for my first bras, I thought I should’ve been excited, but I wasn’t. The bra made me feel alienated from myself and I no longer knew who I was. The only relief I had that day was when the dressing room lady at Sport Chek called me “young sir.”
Since that day, I have resisted swimming, school sports, and wearing certain clothes. I have probably swam a total of four times, since 2016. My shoulders have shifted forwards and curved inward as a reflection of my resistance of my chest being visible. I have a stack of T-shirts tucked away in my closet because I can’t wear them without feeling like someone I’m not. I’ve had panic attacks during gym class because I can’t wear a sweater. I’ve spent four and a half years of my life living beneath my potential. At this point, I don’t even know what it feels like to be comfortable in my own skin.
I do know how ecstatic others like me have been after their surgeries. I have watched many videos of someone like me seeing their chest for the first time and crying because it’s finally the way it is meant to be. I wish I was born normal, even though such a thing doesn’t exist. This surgery is the only thing that can do this for me. This surgery is what I have spent years thinking about. This surgery is essential if I want to live my life to the fullest.
A Message from Andy's Mom, Christy
Andy identifies as non-binary / trans-masculine, and uses "them/they" pronouns. Andy has known they want top surgery from the time they first heard about it, around age 12 - 13. It was, in fact, part of their emerging understanding of an identity that our society had not even given them the language for. It is their final destination in being able to feel safe in society and comfortable in their own skin, and to rid themselves of an often crippling dysphoria that has made it impossible for them to participate in team sports, swimming, and many other activities cis-gender kids take for granted.
Top surgery is more important to Andy - a straight A student - than going to university. It is more important to them than ANYTHING going forward. And now it is not even an option in our province for two more years plus wait time. Given the other cuts to healthcare that we have been seeing, even in the midst of a global pandemic, we are deeply concerned that our current government will continue to neglect transgender health issues and that further cuts may ensue, possibly to the surgical coverage for ages 18+. To ask any child who’s been counting on this surgery to wait another 2 - 4 years and still face the possibility of discontinued coverage seems unreasonable at best, cruel at worst.
The ideal time for Andy to have this surgery is NOW, while they are still in high school, before adding the extra challenges and responsibilities that come with leaving home and living adult life. We want them to be able to feel safe and settled in their own body so that they can focus on their schooling and their future and making their own difference in the world. We want this for our kid, and we want this for ALL kids in Alberta who need this surgery.
Out of Province Top Surgery Date Scheduled late August, 2020
Thankfully, we have been given an opportunity to get Andy access to top surgery through a private clinic in Ontario later this August. The surgery will cost $10,000 out of pocket. Because of Covid-19 and the need to stay as healthy as possible leading up to the surgery, we are planning to drive the 3500km across the country rather than fly. We will need to stay in Mississauga for at least one week following the surgery for Andy to receive the necessary follow up care and be cleared for travel back to Alberta. Because of the short timeline, the amount of time involved, and the fact that Andy’s dad Lachlan is without work due to Covid, it is not an easy time to come up with an extra $10,000. Hence, this fundraising campaign.
Please Help if you Can
If you can spare $10, $20, $50, or even $100, every dollar will help and we would be ever so grateful.
If you are willing to share this campaign with others who might be willing and able to contribute, even if you cannot, that too would be an enormous help.
Of Special Note for Albertans:
Not all families are capable of being as supportive of their transgender youth as we fortunately are. For the sake of these marginalized and vulnerable kids and their families, we ask anyone who has the extra time and energy to PLEASE participate in a letter writing campaign urging our government to re-instate this coverage through Alberta Health Services as soon as possible.
You can provide feedback directly to Alberta Health Services at: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/patientfeedback.aspx
You can also contact your local MLA here: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_report&memPhoto=True&alphaboth=True&alphaindex=True&build=y&caucus=All&conoffice=True&legoffice=True&mememail=True
The Alberta Liberal Party has an active online petition to increase funding to the Metta Clinic in Calgary, the only specialized clinic available to transgender youth in Alberta, which is currently only funded enough to run a half day each month, here: https://www.albertaliberal.com/protect_trans_youth_fund_metta
Organizer and beneficiary
Christy Mackintosh
Organizer
Banff, AB
Christy Barnes Mackintosh
Beneficiary
