I'm Martin/Maren, and I have been on a journey of gender affirmation since 2013. If you are reading this, you likely know me in the context of being a friend, family member, former classmate, former college student, or former/current coworker.

I am happy to announce I am scheduled for chest masculinization surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on December 3rd, 2026 with one of their plastic surgery providers.

The state of transgender legislation in the United States makes me anxious to take power over my body lest that choice be taken from me.

I am fortunate to have health insurance which covers a portion of my surgery, and I am privileged to live in a state where I can take the six weeks of leave I need to recover without worrying about my income.

I've had some experience over the past year with long-term recovery from medical procedures, and I've been thinking for a long time about the way I want to move in the world. I am big believer in community, in kindness, radical empathy, and in mutual aid.

A little background about me: I graduated from college in 2018 with a degree in education. I spent a large portion of my adult working-life in the closet as a transmasculine person, thinking to save myself the pain and struggle of transphobia that would be directed towards me as someone who worked in the education field.

Instead, I found myself deeply unhappy and distressed to the point I struggled to make it through the day. My chosen field was genuinely hurting me physically and mentally. Going back into the closet after being out in college, not being able to talk about my wife (then girlfriend) in casual conversation or acknowledge my gender identity, pretending like such a huge part of myself didn't exist; this too-familiar quandary gave me an invisible type of injury.

I couldn't see a future where I was happy and unencumbered.

So I left the education field in 2021 for the sake of my health, and since starting masculinizing hormone replacement therapy in 2025 I have only felt more and more confident in my decisions regarding transition and my pivot to a different life path.

This surgery has been planned (in my mind) for a long time. I asked for a referral to the Mayo Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic in January of 2025. In May of 2025, I finished my specialty clinic intake and was placed on a waiting list for a surgical consult through Mayo Clinic.

These is a picture I took the day of my consults with an endocrinologist to start HRT and a mental health provider to write me a letter to meet with a plastic surgeon for chest masculinization surgery:

I was nervous beforehand because I wasn't sure what to expect, but afterwards I was happy with my choice to pursue care through the specialty clinic. Everything was moving very smoothly.

Then in June of 2025, I suffered a trimalleolar fracture of my right ankle which required ORIF surgery in order to heal. The experience was difficult. It's hard to explain unless one has experienced a similar injury. Recovery wasn't progressing like I wanted; I found myself unable to move and feel like I had before.

Content Warning: Post-operative pictures inset below (bruises, swelling, stitches)

A Tale of Two Surgeries (2026 Edition)

Three surgeries in two years was not on my bingo card (I asked for one and got three, what gives?)

Luckily I have an amazing support system in my wife, my parents, my two siblings, and great friends who were willing to help take care of me.

So, why post a Go Fund Me?

While I was unable to walk during my recovery periods for my ankle surgeries, I was grateful to be a beneficiary of a local non-profit in Red Wing called Pier 55 - in addition to being an organization with a mission statement to "enhance, stimulate, accommodate, and support ever-changing and active lives of seniors," Pier 55 also provides no-cost rentals of mobility aids and assistive devices.

Within minutes I had a wheelchair, I had crutches - if I didn't have insurance, it wouldn't have mattered. I didn't require money or coverage to receive their help - I simply had need.

I got a chance to look in their storeroom and saw so many different options and devices to help people be independent - shower chairs, canes, walkers, rollators - some of these things, if I had known I could borrow, I wouldn't have bought.

I have been looking for a way to give back to my community; after my experiences these past fourteen months, I feel that creating a reusable bank of items like specialty pillows and hoodies which I won't have use for after I'm healed is what I'm feeling called to do.

Not everyone has the money to invest in post-operative recovery items they may only use for a few weeks. I see a space where I can take the joy of my transition and help spread it out - and make more good things, and help people heal their bodies.

I would like to use my time to give people less to worry about - in a system such as ours where medical coverage can be unpredictable even in life-saving circumstances, many people end up forgoing comfort for the sake of utility. But comfort and safety is something that's so important for good outcomes and pain management.

Contributions to this fund will:

If you would prefer to contribute in a different way, I have an Amazon wishlist .

I understand not everyone is in a position to give, nor do I expect something from everyone. This is a medical procedure and grassroots mutual aid project I have chosen to undertake.

For the upcoming recovery period I could always use some book / tv / movie recommendations, company, or kind words of support.

Thank you from the deepest part of my heart!

Martin Maren Carly Jenkins-Kuran