Eli's Top Surgery Fund

Hi there,

My name is Eli and I am a 25 year old transgender man looking for a little help to raise the money needed to pay for my top surgery - A gender affirming surgery to remove my breast tissue and construct a male chest that matches my gender identity. I came out in 2018 and started hormone therapy on March 31st 2021. Accessing testosterone to begin my medical transition meant spending around £750. This included the cost of an assessment with a psychiatrist, followed by an appointment with an endocrinologist, and then finally the cost of my first prescription. That's, in essence, two Dr's appointments and a prescription at £750. Could I have taken care of this by relying on the NHS? I could, but the wait time from date of referral to first appointment at an NHS run gender clinic currently works out at around 23 years - A time scale that does not fill me with whimsy. Top surgery costs usually include a compulsory assessment with a psychiatrist, a consultancy fee with a chosen surgeon, the surgery itself, and the hospital stay. This can add up to around £6,500 - £8,500, depending on the individual fee of the psychiatrist, surgeons, and hospital.

Having this surgery would mean a few things for me. As a transgender man, I live with something called Gender Dysphoria - A clinical, psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one's sex assigned at birth and one's gender identity. Simplified, this basically just means that I am deeply uncomfortable because I was born with the wrong primary and secondary sex characteristics. Not everybody is comfortable with that as a description for how they feel, but for me that is pretty much exactly what the case is. Starting testosterone has helped tremendously to alleviate this by making my voice much deeper, giving me a little bit of facial hair, a lot of leg hair, and redistributing my body fat whilst developing more muscle so that I look less hour glass and more Dorito. However, much of it still remains, and can only be further helped by having top surgery. It would also mean that I would be able to do things like use a male changing room at a gym without putting myself at risk of other potentially transphobic men realising that I am transgender and responding violently. I would be able to go through my day without wearing a binder - a very tight fitting and physically uncomfortable garment to flatten my chest - The wearing of which over an extended period of time can affect my breathing as well as the alignment of my spine and rib-cage. The current alternative to this is using something called KT tape to tape my chest in a way which makes it appear flat - removing this at the end of the day can be quite painful and damaging to my skin.

Having delved into and explained all of that, I'm going to do the bit that makes me feel nice and awkward and ask for your money. Any amount at all will be useful, and if you'd rather not make a donation, then sharing this would be just as appreciated.