<div><strong>Help Melissa get Gender Affirming Facial Surgery</strong>
</div>
<div>Every one of my mornings begins with an inventory of compromises—modulating my voice, softening my gestures, rehearsing reactions to the hesitation in strangers’ eyes.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Gender-affirming facial surgery (FFS) is not about changing who I am. It is about ending the daily labor of translating myself, of pleading for recognition in glances that should be effortless. It is about waking up and seeing my face in the mirror without hesitation. It is the luxury of forgetting my appearance for hours at a time, of entering a room present rather than braced for impact.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is also a matter of safety. After four assaults, after interviews where my qualifications mattered less than the flicker of confusion across the interviewer's face — "How did you get this meeting link? We were expecting Melissa." — I know the stakes in my bones. Surgery will not erase society’s biases, but it will transform the toll of navigating them from crushing to manageable.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Most of all, it is about reclaiming the hours, days, and years spent seeking basic acknowledgment, time that I instead could be devoted to creating, building, and truly living. My daily modifications are not choices. They are taxes, levied in time, extracted in energy, paid in the focus I owe to my work, my community, and myself.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For me, this surgery represents building a life. When I imagine that freedom, I see more than just my reflection at peace. I see a chance to get back on my feet so I can be there for others the same way. I know everyone has their own struggles, now more than ever, and I'm deeply grateful you've taken time to consider mine. If you're able to contribute, every dollar brings me closer to stability. If you can't give right now, sharing this fundraiser helps more than you know.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for reading.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>x Mel
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>My timeline:</strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>0-18: Trapped in a conservative home, drowning in daily dysphoria
</li>
<li>18-25: Repression, depression, and self-harm to cope
</li>
<li>25-28: Identified as non-binary but still felt like a stranger in my skin
</li>
<li>28-Now: Finally on HRT, but my face remains a map of the past. Having helped a few friends recover from gender affirming procedures &amp; visited many surgeons for consultations, I have a clear understanding of exactly what I’m looking for
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The financial reality:</strong>
</div>
<div>After years of waiting, my insurance will cover most of my FFS—but I still need $18,767:
</div>
<div>• $15,000 for surgical procedures
</div>
<div>• $3,676 for 2hrs OR time (enough to change a life)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I’ve saved $2.8k over the past few years, which will accommodate some of my recovery expenses. That said, there is no way I could personally cover the rest; otherwise, I would never ask for this. I plan on returning to remote work within a week of recovery, and in-person bartending within two weeks of recovery (recommended 3-4 weeks of recovery), to minimize my financial burden on others.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My primary, full-time job recently ended due to overstaffing (though my former employers are generously supporting my career transition through severance and referrals, and I expect to be back to work soon). I have begun donating plasma as often as allowed. My part-time marketing work brings in $1,600/month—enough to survive, but not to save for this. Unfortunately, stretching myself this thin won’t close the gap in time.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In the unlikely event there's any left over after paying for surgery, every extra dollar will go to trans mutual aid funds that center people of color.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>With federal attacks on trans healthcare accelerating - constitutional protections revoked, bans potentially spreading to adults, insurance coverage potentially being rolled back, even our medical records at risk - this window for safe, legal care is closing fast. This may be my best chance of receiving care within the foreseeable future.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How you can help:</strong>
</div>
<div>❶ Donate any amount – Even $1 chips away at this mountain
</div>
<div>❷ Share with cis allies – Many don’t realize FFS is lifesaving care
</div>
<div>❸ Consider matching your gift to the <a href="https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Palestine Children’s Relief Fund</a> , <a href="https://chuffed.org/project/115245-dahnoun-mutual-aid" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dahnoun Mutual Aid</a> , <a href="https://www.blacktransliberation.com/support-the-movement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Black Trans Liberation</a> , or any other fundraiser that supports families disrupted by ICE.
</div>

Courtney Epton

Roxolana Ilkiw

Anonymous

Kelly Tsai

Sierra Sanders

Michael Hammersley

Bohdan orest Ilkiw

Chris Eggemeyer

David Ilkiw

Nathalyn Nunoo

Help Melissa get Gender Affirming Facial Surgery

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Melissa get Gender Affirming Facial Surgery

Still $9,953 to go. Help us build momentum.