I'm Gwen. I am a 28 year old trans woman living in rural Pennsylvania and trying to be my best self. I started the process of transitioning in early 2018, and since then my life has dramatically changed. 

Transitioning is a long, multifaceted, and incredibly expensive process. It is not uncommon for me to have 2-3 appointments a week between various doctors. Among the medical procedures available to trans people, my insurance company draws an arbitrary line between procedures that are deemed "medically necessary" and those it considers "cosmetic". They will partially cover the cost of the former, but leave me on the hook for the rest. Cosmetic or not, the fact is that these procedures will greatly reduce my risk of suicide, and waiting to save up the necessary thousands of dollars is time that I will never get back. 

I’ve been relatively private about this process up until now, but I am currently spending over a third of my income on out of pocket medical expenses. I’ve taken pride in 100% self-funding my transition up until this point, but after taking a hard look at my income and the price tag of transitioning, it seems my goal of saving up enough money to pay for surgery by myself is just not realistic, so I’m turning to you all for help. $10000 is a *very* conservative estimate, but all of the money donated will go to my transition in one way or another, and every donation will mean more to me than you could ever know.

Thank you. 
-Gwen