Help a trans educator fund a life-changing surgery

My name is Jane, and I'm a trans lady trying my best to raise funds for a long-awaited gender-affirming surgery.

I'm fortunate enough to have a job in public schools - a job that I love, but state laws and the nature of my employment explicitly forbid any kind of trans healthcare from coverage. That means that any payment - and payment plan - will be entirely down to what I can raise and what I've managed to save.

I do not know the exact cost yet, but my surgeon estimated around $30,000, and from what data I've been able to find, the statewide average is in the $23,000-28,000 range. The date is already set - September 30th, 2025 - and so this is going ahead whether I can afford it or not. It's all a matter of what the debt balance will be.

Making things tougher is the time crunch. I have been working towards getting this done for close to seven years - covid interrupted and put a hard pause on plans for a while, followed by moving - and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to pursue the surgery.

So, I'm casting a wide net out and hoping for the generosity of friends, family and strangers to put in a little bit towards making this happen. I am grateful enough to be involved in some wonderful communities centered around education, public service and - of course! - hobbies, and those folks are most likely to see this fundraiser first.

The procedure itself is vulvoplasty, sometimes called "zero depth" bottom surgery. The primary benefit will be a mix of hormone stability and pure quality of life. I have had large and uncomfortable hydroceles coupled with a benign cyst that have only grown over the years, and to be very frank and open things like tucking have never been an option.

Some of the things I'm looking forward to:

I have already done fertility preservation - long ago, prior to HRT - and so that is not a concern. Access, means, livelihood and legality all are, however.

I also need to explain the cover photo, I think. Why the face blur? I am not exactly a public figure but my professional life is very much reliant on me keeping an appropriate separation from anything that can be perceived as political or too controversial. I also care about my privacy while also knowing that I need help from people who might see this fundraiser without having any idea who I am. I'm not sure how best to balance that, but I did want to show you one of the happiest days of my life - and I hope that joy comes across, despite the blurring.

Thank you so much for considering helping me out, and for reading all this if you made it that far. I see gofundme has an "enhance" button that will run this through some LLM or algorithm, but I'd rather stay rambling and a little messy but still me than have a computer make me sound like the Ideal Deserving Candidate.

Gratefully,

Jane B