Hi, my name is Xavia and I’m raising funds for my gender-affirming bottom surgery.

Transitioning over the past few years has simply allowed me to be me. I’ve had beautiful moments, developed new ways of creating art, learnt a lot about the world, met new people, and I feel lucky to interact with the world in a way that feels right.

There is one final part of my transition that I’m yet to reach, which is bottom surgery. It's something that can, at times, overshadow the way I view progress I’ve made, and just in day-to-day life, it’s extremely uncomfortable physically, and in terms of dysphoria.

It’s something I deal with privately and would prefer to do so, in terms of having surgery and silently relieving myself from this. But when I take a moment to look outside of myself, seeing if there's a way I can access something that will change my life and how I feel, far outweighs the nuances of putting something like this out there. Especially when taken into consideration that what I need to do isn’t bad, something I should be ashamed of or should suffer through.

My transition has been self-funded, and I’ve had treatments through private clinics and doctors for hormone treatments, fertility and laser, while also being on the NHS London Gender Identity Clinic waitlist to have surgery. A year ago, I found out that the referral I initially made with my GP was never sent due to human error, a feeling of anger, frustration and pain that is indescribable. It means I’ve now only been on the waitlist for a year, a waitlist that is 7 years long. This waitlist is only to be seen for an initial consultation, so access to surgery would be even longer. Waiting is something I just can’t do anymore. I’ve done as much as I can independently. I’m 22, and 23 in a month, I would like to be young, free from this chapter of my life and the heaviness of undergoing this. I’m so grateful to be able to see myself and would love nothing more than to fully settle into the bliss that is just being.

I’m aiming to raise £30,000–£35,000 to cover: surgery costs here in the UK, pre-op consultations and diagnostics, recovery care, and a small buffer for revisions or complications.

Every donation helps, and sharing this means the world.

Thank you for supporting me.

With love,

Xavia