First off, I hate this. I’m not owed your attention, or your time, let alone your money. I haven’t done anything to earn it and no one wants to feel like a charity case. Yet here I am. I don’t know how else to go about this. My job and responsibilities don’t come with insurance. I don’t have the time or ability to find that elsewhere. Even if I did, the service I use to access my HRT is unavailable in my state if I’m also on Medicaid. Which is absurd because it’s not cheap. But enough about why I need your help, let’s talk about what I need help with. If you know any trans folks, if you’re here you probably know me, then you have probably heard of dysphoria. Gender Dysphoria. It’s a big ugly word to describe the nasty feelings trans people get around our bodies. The pain and discontent that comes from, in my case anything about me that I feel looks too masculine. You can learn more about it here;

https://www.transhub.org.au/dysphoria 

For me a lot of my angst is focused on my chin and jaw and neck, the unfortunate side effects of a testosterone induced puberty. And you might be thinking, Chloe, lots of cis women have these qualities, and you’d be correct, but generally speaking they aren’t a constant reminder of a body that could have been different if only I had known. Or if only those damned chromosomes had been a little different. But that’s all water under the bridge. And while I would urge you to think of trans surgeries as reconstructive rather than cosmetic, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to feel pretty. There are obvious mental health benefits to feeling good about yourself. Facial feminization surgery, also called ffs, the procedures that I’m hoping to pay for, have been proven to give trans people a higher quality of life. There’s even a study with graphs and numbers and shit to back that up;

https://connect.uclahealth.org/2022/07/08/facial-feminization-surgery-improves-quality-of-life-for-transgender-people-study-finds/ 

And probably not just for the reasons you immediately think of. There’s a darker truth here, and that’s that these surgery make trans people, particularly trans women, safer. Safer in public, on the bus, at the store, at the airport. Anywhere someone might look at us and notice that we are trans is anywhere we might be attacked. This procedure makes that less likely. And it’s subtle, I want to come out on the other side and still look like me, just the most feminine version. There are some things we cannot change. Lucky for me the things I want to change are possible. But this is my face we’re talking about. I don’t want to risk a botched surgery. That’s why I’ve chosen Facialteam. After my consult with several surgeons, Facialteam was the clear choice, and while they weren’t the most expensive option, I’m still looking at $20-48,000 depending on if I get everything. The initial goal is just for the down payment. I hope that with your help I can raise the rest. So please, please, everything helps. I know this is a big ask. I’ve been poor my whole life, and this feels weird, but I don’t know how else to make it happen. If you can’t give, then share, get the word out, get this in front of as many people as you can. And ultimately thank you. I love you. And I am eternally grateful for your time, and your friendship. And hey, you wanna check out the people I’m trusting my face to? https://facialteam.eu