Hi, I'm Quentin and I am a 23 year old trans man. I have known I was trans since 2015, and have been on Testosterone since June 2024, after many years of attempts.

I have recently been referred to a local NHS GIC, Transcend, which operates in Cheshire and the surrounding areas. It is unknown how long the waiting list for Transcend is, however through reading other people's experiences I estimate 24+ months. Previously I was on the Leeds GIC waiting list, which is only now getting to patients referred in Aug 2019 as of writing; I was referred in Sept 2023 after several years of asking my GP and being ignored.

Eventually, I made the decision to go through a private practice for testosterone, below is a breakdown of the costs:

I originally attempted to get HRT through this practise in 2020-21, but was completely unable to afford the fees as I was still in school and had no income, I was able to retry in 2024 due to benefits and this fundraiser. The above updated costs have nearly doubled from what they originally were.

My yearly payments are at least £1,800, I would really like this GFM to cover until I'm able to be seen by an NHS clinic, with an estimate on the waiting list being at least two years now I need to raise at least £5,000, to cover up to three years of the above listed payments.

Below are screenshots of recent payments I have made:

This is also raising money for my top surgery, as I am unsure how long I will now be on the Transcend waiting list, I would like to have a safety net, and hope to be able to afford top surgery by the time I'm 25. Below is an estimate of costs from a surgeon I am hoping to visit, Ioannis Ntanos who has moved his practise to Greece but that seems to be cheaper than the UK. Costs sourced from his website and GGP:

Alternatively, there is the option of Kate Williams in Manchester, however on the hospital website they list the "starting price" at £9,995, which is more expensive than it would be to straight up travel to Greece for Ntanos. All other options seem to be in a similar range, so I'm going to aim to travel for the cheaper way.

The costs I've listed in this description (3 years covering HRT and then top surgery) amount to just under £13,000, hence the goal of this fundraiser.

I am disabled both physically and mentally, thus am unable to work. I am on Universal Credit and PIP, but those also have to go to daily life and bills, I genuinely struggle to pull over £100 a month out of my ass to pay for T, but for now I have no other option. HRT is lifesaving, I will not elaborate but please believe me when I say I most likely wouldn't be here today without it, and dream of one day getting top surgery and finally finding peace. (Very dramatic but I can't think of a less corny way to phrase it.)

If I were to hit the £5,000 goal, I would be able to let it sit in a savings account and collect interest, taking money out to make the monthly payments, and put some back in when my PIP payments come in. I would then be able to focus on saving for top surgery and not have to worry about if I can pay for my testosterone.

Being trans in the UK (and several other countries) is very scary at the moment, with more and more legislature and societal pressure forcing us away every day. I hope that soon I won't have to pay for my testosterone or top surgery, but that could take anywhere between 2-7 years, or longer. Fundraising unfortunately is absolutely necessary until I can be seen through an NHS practise. This is all the Transcend website says regarding waiting times:

Thank you to everyone who has donated over the last 3 years, and/or will donate in the future.

(Rewritten March 2026, fundraiser originally created in April 2023.)