Hello everyone! I’m Eli C. Rigamonti, some of you may know me as the digital artist localycryptideli. I’m a 32yo agender person living in northern Germany, I use they/them pronouns in English, er/ihn in German, and mixed pronouns in Italian.

When I was a toddler (it is one of my earliest memories) I was standing in front of my parents’ bedrooms while my grandma was babysitting me, and I remember yelling (for reasons now lost to time) “I’m not a girl! I’m not a girl!” at the time my grandma chided me with “and what are you then, A MAN?!” and my tiny brain short-circuited. My grandfather was a huge history buff and kept inserting history stuff in our playtime sessions, so my brain immediately thought of a man like Louis XIV (no, I did not know who he was) as the epitome of “man”, and decided that no, I did not want to have a big curly wig and bright stockings and frills. And then I thought of my father and decided that no, I did not want to have curly hair coming out of my ears and nose either. And therefore, I did not want to be a man. But I was not a girl either. I knew I was not one.

At the time I did not have the words to describe what I was, and I would not have them for years afterwards, until I reached adulthood. Still, by the time I was 21 I knew who I was and I knew I wanted this surgery. I told myself to wait a decade to see if there could be a way for me to live with my breasts. Now at 32, I am finally taking the first big steps to live as my true self.

Having big breasts means that I have a lot of add-on issues, both from a psychological and from a physical point of view. I often get back pain, and are unable to wear a binder or sport bras because they cause my back muscles to contract more. But not wearing a binder also causes me a lot of mental distress. So it’s a lot of distress all over with no easy solution beyond surgery.

So this surgery will honestly be life changing for me.

However, I am going to be completely honest with you: it is a lot of money for me. But I simply cannot wait any longer without causing myself more distress, both physical and mental. This is why I am setting up this campaign, so that I might get the surgery I need without compromising my ability to pay for rent and bills and food. Every little helps.

My surgery appointment is on the 03. of September.

The surgery will be performed at the Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum in Hamburg, in Germany.

The current costs are 2677,50€ for the surgery itself, plus 422,15€ for the anesthesia, and 4355,50€ for the hospital stay, for a total amount of 7455,05€. Due to the size of my breasts, I am getting a mono-incision surgery.

Accommodation is going to be between 377€ to 500€ (I have screened accommodations but have not booked a precise one yet). To that I am adding about 150€ for food costs, since unfortunately I am gluten intolerant and have a lot of other allergies. Travel costs will range around 250€ as I am going to need to go back and forth on a 3h30m drive for the pre-consultation in order to save money on accommodation. So total cost is going to range at about 8232,05€.

I am honestly not expecting to reach my goal, and I do not say it in self-deprecation, but in a “that is a fuckton of money holy shit” way. Still, any help I’ll get will make me happy, and if all I get out of this is help covering food or transport, so be it (that said, ideally I would like to cover accommodation, because of the “that is a fuckton of money holy shit” part).

It would mean the world for me if you could share this campaign, if you are so inclined. I am not a big presence online, and a lot of my friends are also struggling a lot financially, so any additional reach would also be of immense help.

With all my thanks for the attention and for any donation,

and wishing you a kind day,

Eli