Hello! I’m Wren, a twenty-six years old trans guy who is saving for top surgery. I initially planned to pay for it entirely by myself due to pride, but surgery is expensive even with insurance and it would be nice to not have to pinch every penny. Besides the surgery itself, I also have to worry about not being able to work for 4-6 weeks while I recover.

I don’t think I really need to go into much explanation for why this surgery is beneficial to me; I think anyone who understands gender dysphoria or is at least sympathetic to those who experience the importance of gender affirming care already.

To keep it brief, I have always felt a major disconnect to my female anatomy on my best days and outright disgust at my worst. I never connected with the idea of womanhood and while I could largely ignore she/her pronoun use, being directly described as a woman made me uncomfortable. The times I would describe myself a as woman to people was almost always in describing how much I hated it. I spent most of my life hiding behind dissociation, internalized transphobia, and feminist ideals to convince myself that I simply wasn’t a “traditional woman” rather than transgender.

Although I rarely vocalized it, I regularly wished that I had been born male, believing I would be much happier as a man. On days that I felt more masculine, I was also more confident and noticeably happier. Until I would see my body in my reflection and promptly tear up, of course. I would often put myself into the role of a man in video games, in my writing, etc, and always thought that my “Cinderella moment” would be getting turned into a man. A thought which, once admitted to a friend aloud, was my “egg crack” moment.

Since my realization that I am, in fact, a man, and especially since starting testosterone therapy, my quality of life has already improved so much. I am much happier and I can actually take a picture of myself without wanting to cry at how much I hate it. Still, my chest remains an issue.

If you have read this far, thank you! I know times are hard for everyone right now, so anyone who is able to give even a little has my immense gratitude.