Help Clara & Ellie Afford Gender Affirming Care

Hi! We're Clara and Ellie, a transfemme couple in our early 30s in need of help paying for our respective gender affirming surgeries. We've been together for 3 1/2 years, have transitioned together, make art together, and can't imagine our lives without each other. That's why we're happy to say we are getting married soon and moving to Philadelphia because as trans people we no longer feel safe or comfortable in Texas. We are so excited to start our new lives together, but there is one single issue that has been a constant source of pain, sadness, and frustration, which is our inability to be able to afford the gender affirming surgeries we both desperately need.

The last thing we wanted to have to do is ask others for help affording the care we need, but it's come to a point where we are unfortunately left with no other option. We make enough together to pay for rent and groceries, but no where near enough to cover the cost of surgeries.

While we will both be able to get health insurance through Ellie's day job after getting married, it won't cover the full cost of our procedures, which leaves us stuck having to come up with thousands of dollars out of pocket that we don't have. We are already in a situation where we are selling our stuff, using our savings, and even took out a small loan to make this much needed relocation to Philadelphia. By donating to our GoFundMe, you'll be helping us afford the surgeries we need to improve our mental health; making us feel more comfortable in our bodies, and giving us the chance to start the next chapter of our lives together.

About Clara:

Thanks to local clinics in Austin that help people with no insurance, Clara was able to start transition almost 4 years ago. Her life has noticeably improved with those that knew her before constantly telling her how much more happy and confident she seems now. Going through all the changes of the first 2 years of transition and being able to get laser hair removal lead to a type of self-love she never even knew was possible pre-transition. She has always felt like she would just have to settle with not being able to afford the surgeries she wanted but as time went on settling went from difficult to unbearable. She has lived with a hidden depression about this since even before she started transitioning.

There was a point when Ellie's insurance at her job was claiming to cover gender affirming surgery. When Ellie woke her up to tell her this she cried with gender euphoric joy and the low level depression lifted into a joyful enthusiasm that she carried with her everywhere. Unfortunately, this all came crashing down a few weeks later when it was revealed that due to some bureaucratic roadblocks, the gender affirming care the insurance company was thought to offer was actually not available. She slowly sank back into her former mood and has been there since. Only recently has some hope come onto the horizon because the insurance company now at least partially covers almost all the gender affirming care she needs. Being able to get facial feminization surgery and breast augmentation is one of the biggest hurdles she has left in transition to be able to look on the outside how she feels on the inside.

About Ellie:

After fighting with their insurance for months on end, Ellie decided to get facial feminization surgery back in September of 2023 despite the fact that the insurance company would not help cover it at all. She had reached a point where she knew her depression surrounding the issue was becoming so intolerable she had to make it happen as soon as she could, even without any help. Because of this, she had to take all the money for it out of her retirement fund that had been building at their job for over 10 years, which was almost $30,000. She also ended up having to pay over $6,000 to the IRS as a penalty for doing so, which she has not fully financially recovered from. On top of this, her surgeon still recommends getting hair grafts to complete the process.

Being able to get the surgery has considerably helped her mental condition, and alleviated so much of her gender dysphoria. However, the unreasonable cost to make it happen has drained the savings she had for her future and caused more financial struggle than expected. If she could recover even just some of the tax penalty she endured it would go a long way to helping with the effects of intense burnout she has been experiencing ever since.

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We don't have anything to offer, but anyone who donates will get a special place in our hearts forever <3

Thank you

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If you would like to make a direct donation to us, you can also donate here via Venmo:

@clara-jubilee

@ellie-winnubst