Help Alice Finish Her Gender Transition

Hello!

My name is Alice Raymond. I'm a trans woman in Canada raising money for the last hurdle in her gender transition.

I was still living at home when I started my transition. My family was already dysfunctional and often violent beforehand, but coming out made me realize how toxic this environment really was. As they caught onto the changes, I was driven out, and I quickly slid into poverty. It's been hard to continue transitioning because of this, and will be impossible to finish without financial help.

Canada's healthcare system covers precious little of a person's medical transition. I have received coverage for one sub-$1000 surgery, and for medication I no longer take. That's it. My current medication and hair removal by electrolysis I have had to pay for out of pocket, in addition to fees to change the name and gender marker on my ID. FFS would be up there too, if I could hope to afford it on my own.

FFS can be a medical necessity to live a healthy life. Unfortunately, the Canadian government doesn't agree, even though it is stated to be a medical necessity in the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Standards of Care. Many Canadians with genital dysphoria will receive insurance coverage, but for those with facial dysphoria—something which can cause debilitating stress in social interactions—no help is provided.

Because of the intense anxiety caused by this dysphoria, I've felt like the degree to which I can interact with the world has been severely truncated. It makes it hard to do simple things like exercise out of doors, or attain a job. It is a constant drain on my psyche and I've become extremely worried about what the rest of my life could look like if I don't take action right now.

Back in March 2021 I had a lofty goal to reach the 50k USD I was told I’d need for FFS. Many extremely generous friends and strangers gave and I’ll always be grateful. After some soul-searching I decided to pare back that goal to something that will take care of the primary problem I’ve had since puberty, one that is many times more attainable and if reached will not allow the thousands of dollars I’ve already raised to sit in the bank doing nothing.

In 2018, I was quoted a price for this surgery that fell just under 12k CAD but was told that it wasn’t getting any cheaper (that’s inflation for you). I don’t know yet what the price will be by the time I can afford this procedure so this goal will have to be a little flexible, but will almost certainly be at least 12,000 CAD.

This is still a lot of money to ask for. Any donation you can spare makes a difference. Please also share this page if you think you know people who would be willing to help.

And thank you again for reading, even if you can't spare any money—you're amazing for it.