HELP TRANSWOMAN WITH GENDER-AFFIRMING PROCEDURES

Hello everyone, my name's Irene. I'm a nonbinary trans woman here today (after prompting from my trans boyfriend and community) to ask for help with immediate gender-affirming medical procedures that are essentially life-saving at this current point in my transition.

I started HRT in April of 2021, which means I'm approaching a YEAR! a year on hormone replacement therapy which is a massive milestone for me; however, that milestone has been swiftly overshadowed by a growing fear of being a trans woman in public in addition to pressing bodily harm concerns with my new (psych-confirmed) diagnosis of OCD (with a large emphasis on Trichotillomania & Dermatillomania.)

While I am proud of making it this far in my gender euphoric journey, the consistent and most dysphoria-triggering aspect of my body and face has been my persistent and coarse facial + body hair growth. For a year now, I have had to shave every TWO days to entirely remove the hair on my face, which has left me constantly dysphoric both from the act of having to shave itself and the fact that shaving this regularly has prompted a never-ending source of ingrown hairs that are both painful and have continued to ruin my self-image as a woman; having been diagnosed with Trichotillomania they are also now a source of bodily harm as I am compulsively driven to pick them out from my face and body (with my fingers, tools, etc.) on sight.

[TW: Trichotillomania, skin disorder, skin-picking]

To put it bluntly, the process has often been extremely humiliating for me and debilitating to the point that I refuse to show my face both in public or on camera for my job as an entertainer, which has led to mild agoraphobia. I cannot overstate how devastating the impact has been from this to my mental health overall and the ability to navigate my transition in a healthy capacity.

I'm currently seeking aid in raising funds to facilitate the laser hair removal of my entire body (which includes: my face, neck, chest, back and legs in total) to help alleviate my gender dysphoria and allow me to "pass" in public more visibly and safer as a trans woman, with mounting tensions (in addition to the preexisting laws in place that readily allow people to discriminate against trans people at will) from state legislature (re: Texas, etc.) that is allowing trans individuals to essentially be singled out publicly and placed directly in harm's way, I firmly believe that without these immediate gender-affirming procedures my life and wellbeing are at risk.

I am also seeking aid in completing the neck tattoo that I specifically got in place of FFS (Facial feminization surgery), which is often INCREDIBLY expensive and painful as a short-term gender-affirming safety blanket. The tattoo itself covers my adam's apple (which I would otherwise have to SHAVE down) and helps to shape my jaw in a more feminine way; it's been an enormous source of relief for me, but leaving it unfinished is triggering to both my gender dysphoria and OCD.

I am looking to raise the money before April because Korri and I are road tripping to Florida to handle preexisting name legality issues and to visit my family - the artist who started my tattoo is based out of Miami. We will be making it a point to stop in her studio while in the area.

We are both currently working full time, but our money is extremely limited as we currently have debt and many bills between us to pay for actively (including rent & pets), which is why I'm here with nowhere else to turn to.

So, where are your donations going?

⚬ After consulting a local laser MD medical spa, their pricing with potential bundling is:

⚬ The completion of my neck tattoo that I am currently using in place of FFS (Facial feminization surgery) to deal with the gender dysphoria that my neck and jaw area are giving me which costs:

⚬ Fees for GFM because they take 2.4% + .30 of EACH donation, and the overall goal helps to compensate for that while allowing me to pay for the aforementioned procedures in full.

If you've read this far, I greatly appreciate it and if you choose to contribute? Please understand that you are helping to alleviate my gender dysphoria immediately, and long term this allows me the ability to "pass" publicly, which guarantees to some degree my ongoing safety that I am eternally grateful for.