Hello ! My name is Jaeme and my pronouns are he/they. I am a non binary / trans masc individual currently living in Manchester, UK. This is my fundraising page for gender affirming care, specifically top surgery.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my story, share or donate. Your help has a greater impact than you can imagine.

In the UK, the waitlist for the initial consultation through the NHS is over five years, which has made it impossible for me to receive any care. This lack of available care from the UK government leaves going private as the only other option, but it is very costly. Top surgery, a crucial part of the transition for most trans masc people averages £10 000. This can be solely for the surgery or include after care and appointments depending on the surgeon and other elements. I will of course put money from my own pocket into it but being paid minimum wage does not allow me to save up that amount of money. I am reaching out to my community as I know others will understand how I feel.

If you are interested, here is my story.

From a young age, I always felt I didn't fully fit in. Always a "tomboy" but never comfortable, no matter the demographic I was put in. This feeling of alienation followed me in every stage of my life, presenting various challenges depending the stage of life I was going through.

As a kid or a teenager, you want to belong. Individuality isn't yet celebrated, and this feeling of being "different" led to a lot of incomprehension, isolation, self doubt, and even rather self destructive thoughts and behaviour.

Figuring out my sexuality was probably my first step towards understanding who I am and especially my first time feeling like I was understood and belonged in a community.

I soon after started hearing about trans people's experience and related to their stories a lot. But at the time I was too young, too confused and too scared to really act on those feelings.

Some now five years ago, I was forced to sit with myself and really dive deeper into this deep rooted discomfort overwhelming me more every day.

The process of coming out (again) was both liberating and overwhelming. Educating the people around me took a lot of time and energy and left me rather drained, but overall, more comfortable in close social environments.

After some time off, I started feeling the need for the next step. Gender dysphoria and getting misgendered dozens of times a day (I work as a bartender) has been quite exhausting to deal with on a daily basis and tends to affect my mental health considerably. I am now ready for this next step and longing to be able to really see myself in the mirror and love without that constant weight and feeling of being misperceived.

Thank you to everyone who read this and helps in any way! (Send this to your rich friends lol)

Jaeme x