Help Marita Stand in the Sun - Top Surgery
Donation protected
Hello brave & beautiful community,
My stunning partner of a human, Marita, is going to undergo surgery in March, and receive a double mastectomy (yes, this is a good thing).
While most of you know both of us and have witnessed at least some of our amazing partnership, what you might not know is that Marita identifies as non-binary. Marita's pronouns (when being spoken to/about by the world), are they/them.
This has been a part of their truth for a LONG time (since early childhood), but it is only within the past several years, that Marita has explored getting top surgery (a double mastectomy and reconstruction) to have their body reflect their inner identity.
As it turns out, California is one of the ONLY states that provides coverage for these procedures under insurance. Amazing!
So after approximately A YEAR'S WORTH OF APPOINTMENTS, doctors, advocacy, therapists, hours upon hours of phone calls, and a LOT of hoops, Marita is scheduled for surgery in early March!!!
When describing having this finally done, Marita says that it feels like they'll finally be able to stand in the sun.
BUT...(everybody likes butts, so why are they so ominous??)
Marita's company changed their insurance plans at the end of last year. And in order to ensure that this surgery would still be covered, and they would not have to go through another year long wait (after a lifetime of waiting), there are going to be some MAJOR out of pocket costs coming up for us:
-Fee for the surgery center ($$$$)
-Fee for the anesthesiologist ($$$)
-About $4,500+ out of pocket for additional employee and spouse contributions to keep the same insurance plan
-Short period of time off from any work that takes me away from home for me to take care of Marita while they're recovering
All in all, the ADDITIONAL cost to make this happen, even WITH insurance coverage (although now not being subsidized by their employer) is about $12,000.
That may end up being higher if Marita has to stay overnight in the hospital (which is currently not anticipated, but is not for certain). This is not including the time Marita will be taking off work, which they should have vacation to cover, and it is not including the amount we were already expecting to pay towards monthly insurance contributions.
Marita and I are both incredibly hard workers, and we've been busting our butts over the past months to make this possible. We have major projects and commitments in progress, and although yes, we could totally back out of those, and MIGHT be able to scrape it together, with Marita's permission I am reaching out to our community for help.
Want to support an incredible, magical, tough as nails and soft as a kitten non-binary human to navigate and pay for the incredible privilege of being able to live in a body that reflects their inner identity?
Support a human who is currently on a path of bringing queer indigenous magic & healing to this world through their unique experience & identities...
I watched Marita weeping the other day from relief when they received support from an unexpected person, after going through so much of this silently with very few people knowing what they have been dealing with.
Please consider donating. Every single dollar makes a difference.
A donation is like a little message to Marita saying "I see you, you don't have to do this alone, and you deserve to have a body that reflects your identity."
I will be listing some art work as thank you gifts for different levels of donations, and also individual oracle card reading sessions.
I would be absolutely thrilled to get $12,000 worth of business above and beyond my normal earnings this month, and pay for the entire thing with the $$$ of my own work! So another awesome way you can help, is by supporting the work we are doing in our businesses!
But barring that happening, I want to give our community the opportunity to support an incredible trans human to stand in the sun, like they deserve.
-with love
Rose & Marita
(p.s. Rose got full permission from Marita before sharing any of these details publicly. Just another shout out for the importance of consent!)
My stunning partner of a human, Marita, is going to undergo surgery in March, and receive a double mastectomy (yes, this is a good thing).
While most of you know both of us and have witnessed at least some of our amazing partnership, what you might not know is that Marita identifies as non-binary. Marita's pronouns (when being spoken to/about by the world), are they/them.
This has been a part of their truth for a LONG time (since early childhood), but it is only within the past several years, that Marita has explored getting top surgery (a double mastectomy and reconstruction) to have their body reflect their inner identity.
As it turns out, California is one of the ONLY states that provides coverage for these procedures under insurance. Amazing!
So after approximately A YEAR'S WORTH OF APPOINTMENTS, doctors, advocacy, therapists, hours upon hours of phone calls, and a LOT of hoops, Marita is scheduled for surgery in early March!!!
When describing having this finally done, Marita says that it feels like they'll finally be able to stand in the sun.
BUT...(everybody likes butts, so why are they so ominous??)
Marita's company changed their insurance plans at the end of last year. And in order to ensure that this surgery would still be covered, and they would not have to go through another year long wait (after a lifetime of waiting), there are going to be some MAJOR out of pocket costs coming up for us:
-Fee for the surgery center ($$$$)
-Fee for the anesthesiologist ($$$)
-About $4,500+ out of pocket for additional employee and spouse contributions to keep the same insurance plan
-Short period of time off from any work that takes me away from home for me to take care of Marita while they're recovering
All in all, the ADDITIONAL cost to make this happen, even WITH insurance coverage (although now not being subsidized by their employer) is about $12,000.
That may end up being higher if Marita has to stay overnight in the hospital (which is currently not anticipated, but is not for certain). This is not including the time Marita will be taking off work, which they should have vacation to cover, and it is not including the amount we were already expecting to pay towards monthly insurance contributions.
Marita and I are both incredibly hard workers, and we've been busting our butts over the past months to make this possible. We have major projects and commitments in progress, and although yes, we could totally back out of those, and MIGHT be able to scrape it together, with Marita's permission I am reaching out to our community for help.
Want to support an incredible, magical, tough as nails and soft as a kitten non-binary human to navigate and pay for the incredible privilege of being able to live in a body that reflects their inner identity?
Support a human who is currently on a path of bringing queer indigenous magic & healing to this world through their unique experience & identities...
I watched Marita weeping the other day from relief when they received support from an unexpected person, after going through so much of this silently with very few people knowing what they have been dealing with.
Please consider donating. Every single dollar makes a difference.
A donation is like a little message to Marita saying "I see you, you don't have to do this alone, and you deserve to have a body that reflects your identity."
I will be listing some art work as thank you gifts for different levels of donations, and also individual oracle card reading sessions.
I would be absolutely thrilled to get $12,000 worth of business above and beyond my normal earnings this month, and pay for the entire thing with the $$$ of my own work! So another awesome way you can help, is by supporting the work we are doing in our businesses!
But barring that happening, I want to give our community the opportunity to support an incredible trans human to stand in the sun, like they deserve.
-with love
Rose & Marita
(p.s. Rose got full permission from Marita before sharing any of these details publicly. Just another shout out for the importance of consent!)
Fundraising team: Team Marita (2)
Rose Esteva de la Torre
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
Marita Esteva
Team member
