Mo's top surgery fund

Hey friends, my name is Mo and I have a couple of things I’m hoping to get off my chest!

Having never been especially adept at being a cis woman, I’ve been out as nonbinary for more than a decade. My chest has always made me uncomfortable, but in recent years it’s become unbearable, and something has to change. Binding has been a hopeless endeavour, so after much soul-searching I’ve opted for surgery, which is (at last!) booked for June 6th.

You should also know that I’m a recently ordained priest in the Church of England (famously not a very well-paid job!). One of my greatest hopes is that I can help to make the church a community where LGBTQIA+ folks can flourish and be loved into fullness of life. But that’s not easy. The Church is still queerphobic in many quarters and navigating that space as a Queer person is hard enough without carrying dysphoria on my chest (which is large and gets commented on and sometimes poked by well-meaning grannies). Blazing the trail is tough, but my faith has been a huge part of finding the courage to grow into authenticity and realness.

Like many people, I haven’t gone the NHS route due to the spiralling waiting list and intrusive pathologisation, but while I’ve been saving up, the prices of private surgery have also risen. I was holding out for a healthcare grant from the Clergy Support Trust, but they won’t help with gender-related surgery, so I’m hoping for a boost from you kind folks…

In total, including consultations, surgery, recovery-related kit, and new uniform for work, the whole business will cost around £10,500, of which I currently have about £8,000 saved.

I know we're in expensive times right now, and there are a lot of important causes to give to, but please donate/share if you can!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, and thank you to everyone who supports me, both financially and in a million and one other ways, you are all beautiful and amazing!