Hello! I’m Clio, a trans woman in my 30s living in North West England. I’m trying to raise money so I can have gender affirming – and life changing – surgery in January next year.

(NB: my partner is named as the beneficiary for the fundraiser as I don’t yet have new photo ID in my legal name needed for gofundme’s bank transfers)

TLDR

1. Last year I started medically transitioning and it is by far the best thing I've done in my life.

2. As well as being affirming and freeing, bottom surgery will make me feel safer in a society that is increasingly hostile to all trans people, and trans women in particular.

3. The NHS wait for this would be 6-9 years (which would mean me waiting until my 40s to live a truth I’ve known since I was 4), so I want to get it done privately.

4. My partner and I are saving as much as possible, but it would take us a decade to raise the full costs we’d need for this surgery. Anything we raise above what we need will be immediately redistributed to other trans fundraisers.

Sections

● My story

● What surgery will do

● Why fundraising

● What this target covers/does not cover

● References

My Story

When I was little, I didn’t know what being trans meant, but I did know I was different from the boys around me: I wrote stories where I was a girl, I asked teachers why I wasn’t allowed to wear dresses and when puberty hit I felt dislocated from myself. I hated being referred to as a boy or a man. I hated the way my body changed, I hated my voice. I’d known I was queer since I was about 14, but it didn't explain this deep discomfort.

In my early 20s, I found people online talking about being trans and I finally had the vocabulary to describe what I was going through, gender dysphoria. I spent more than a decade turning over the question of transition, but I convinced myself I didn't need it – that I couldn’t need it, because it was an impossible thing to want. The NHS route was dehumanising and involved debilitating waits, and I couldn’t afford to go private – I'm from a working-class family, and don’t have generational wealth coming my way.

Last year, a couple of things happened that shifted my perspective. I had a serious health scare which put into perspective a lot of ways I’d been denying core parts of myself. My grandma died after a long illness and in the weeks and days before she passed she was adamant that we should pursue what made us happy, and not waste any time doing it. I talked it over with loved ones and knew that, for me, that meant transition.

The lockdown months had enabled me to save a little money, so I decided to start transition privately. I got a gender dysphoria diagnosis and initial endocrinology assessment.

As soon as I started the process it was like opening a door that I had forced myself to keep locked. I changed my name, changed how I dressed and started HRT. I came out (again) to friends, family and work. Every step felt like a fundamental improvement to my wellbeing. It’s not always been easy, but it has always felt right. Transitioning has so far been, without a doubt, one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s transformed my relationship with myself. Friends and family have repeatedly said that it’s amazing how much happier I seem and I can’t tell you the joy it is to see yourself reflected in the mirror in a way that matches how you feel.

That said, it’s an increasingly difficult time to be a trans person in the UK. The British media is relentlessly hostile, the government is clamouring to change the law to remove our legal rights and high-profile transphobes are spewing a constant stream of hate. Trans women, in particular, are the target of a concerted campaign to push us out of public life and gendered spaces like toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards, services and sports. (In the time since I started drafting this text, trans women have been banned from competing in top-level chess. Chess!)

What surgery will do

HRT has improved my life in so many ways, but it can’t do everything. Gender affirming surgery feels like one of the last parts of the puzzle, to complete what hormone therapy started (plus it will make it easier to get a gender recognition certificate – which, among other things, is essential if I ever want to get married without being misgendered).

I will finally have a body matching who I am. I want to be able to dress how I like and be physically comfortable doing so. I want to feel like I can go swimming again, wear clothes without thinking about how they disguise my body, and experience intimacy in a body that feels wholly my own.

Why fundraising

The timeline for accessing this surgery through the NHS is crushing.

The average waiting time for an initial appointment at the NHS Gender Identity Clinic I was referred to last summer is 62 months. (Funny story: I had to be referred twice because my old GP told me they'd done it, but actually hadn't! I changed GPs.)

The wait between initial appointment, two diagnostic assessments, an endocrinology assessment and two surgical referrals is between 6 and 18 months for each stage, not including any wait for surgery itself.

This means I can expect to be waiting for another 6-9 years to get the same procedure on the NHS. By going private, I can get surgery within the next 6 months. This is why I’m raising funds.

I come from a working-class family, I’ve never had more than meagre savings. I’ve spent a large amount of my working life as an unpaid carer on top of a full-time job. This amount of money would take me a decade to save myself.

I wish we lived in a society where trans people can get access to the healthcare they need for free in a reasonable timeframe, but we’re not there yet – which is why I’m reaching out to the community, and the generosity of friends and strangers alike to raise this money.

What this target covers

£700 – Cost of two surgical referrals from private gender clinicians

£250 – Initial surgical consultation cost

£17,866 – Surgery cost, including the surgery itself, in-patient stay and immediate aftercare, 8-week checkup, additional checkups as needed.

£18,816 total costs

-£7,700 non-GFM donations

£11,116 target

Every penny over the target after the costs above are covered will be re-donated towards other trans healthcare fundraisers.

What this target does not cover

● Transport costs to and from the hospital for consultation, surgery and checkups

● Accommodation for my partner near the hospital for the week I’m an inpatient

● Catsitters

● Home medical and comfort supplies for aftercare

● All the other miscellaneous costs that come from having a significant surgery

I will be covering those costs myself, none of the money raised from this fundraiser will cover those.

If you can’t use GoFundMe, would prefer to donate directly, or have questions and want to get in touch you can contact me via the little button further down the page.

Thank you so much for reading!

Clio <3

References

If you want to make sure this is legit, that I’m a real person and to verify any of the info above please reach out to any of the following people:

● Hux (@littlehux)

● Krish (@krishithink)

● Nicky (@nickyjwatkinson)

● Nell (@theneliad)