Bye Bye Izzy’s Tatas

Hi, my name’s Izzy (they/them) and I’m a 27 year-old non-binary person from Hackney, London. I’ve started this go fund me to raise money to go towards gender-affirming top surgery. This is something I have wanted for a long time and something I have felt dysphoric about since I was a child. It goes without saying how much this means to me and how life-changing this procedure would be for myself and my loved ones, however I will write a little bit about it below for those of you who don’t know me or who aren’t familiar with my journey.

When I was little, I used to run around shirtless in summer with my brothers and the boys in my neighbourhood and I found so much joy and freedom in it. It felt like me. It was the most myself I felt until I started developing and it was no longer acceptable for me to do that. These days, almost every day that I live is defined by my dysphoria around my chest. A lot of my self-expression comes in the form of fashion, but I find myself limited to wearing clothes that best hide this part of myself which I don’t at all feel connected to. I feel defined by my dysphoria, objectified, and incorrectly labelled as female because of my chest. Most importantly, I don’t feel like myself in my own skin.

As you probably know, the NHS is unbelievably strained, particularly when it comes to trans and non-binary healthcare. It is especially difficult to access gender affirming surgeries via the NHS as a non-binary person, as this is often not fully recognised as a valid trans identity that may require medical intervention. Because of this, I have decided to seek top surgery privately in the hope that I can get this life changing surgery within the next few years. It goes without saying that this will be an expensive process, and while I am doing everything I can to save up for this myself, I know it won’t be possible to raise enough money in only a few years.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a form of IBD, and after a bad flare up earlier this year I was left unable to work and was in and out of hospital for months. I was forced to burn through any savings I had and am now starting again more-or-less from scratch. I feel a lot of discomfort in asking for money from anyone, let alone starting a whole go fund me, but I have come to the realisation that this is a matter of basic quality of life for me and is therefore worth the discomfort of putting my story out there.

I’m yet to finalise when, where or with whom I’ll have this procedure done, but I will continue to update this page as and when things become clearer. All I can say now is thank you for reading my story. If you can, please give it a share, it really helps. If you are able to donate it would mean the world to me, as I have said. Even a small amount helps massively. If you are unable to donate but you’ve read this anyway, thank you for seeing me and bearing witness to my journey.

Lots of love,

Izwold 