Help Zach say Bye-Bye to the boobies!

Hi, my name is Zach, I'm a Medical student in the UK and I'm transgender.

I was assigned female at birth, but have never felt this fits who I am inside. I have spent most of my adult life conforming; presenting and living as a woman, but over this past year I have finally felt comfortable enough to begin living as my authentic self.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderfully supportive partner, family and group of friends but this has still been an extremely difficult journey for me full of introspection, fear, and questioning.

More recently I have been able to legally change my name and pronouns on my identification and with my university, started testosterone, and begun to fully embrace who I am!

Throughout this journey I have needed to seek ways to bind my chest to help me appear more masculine. Unfortunately, I have a very large chest and this is often very difficult. Traditional binders make work and exercise harder as they constrict the entire chest, and binding tape often leaves me with reddened skin and blisters.

This summer, I will be undergoing top surgery. This is gender affirming care which will remove my breast tissue and sculpt a masculine chest, to help me look on the outside how I feel on the inside. This care is offered by the NHS in the UK, however wait times are in excess of 7-10 years, and at the age of 32 I don't feel I can wait this long to be my true self, so the decision to seek private care has been made, to help my mental and physical health.

Unfortunately, this comes at a high financial burden to myself and I would be truly grateful for any support you are able to offer.