Lauren Wants To Be Done With Gender

Hi, my name is Lauren, I am a 32 year old trans woman, and I am trying to fund the last part of my transition so I can finally move on with my life.

Trans healthcare in the United States is a gauntlet of wait times, battling with insurance companies, trying to find a therapist and doctor who treats you like a person, etcetera. I am relatively lucky to have health insurance through my job that will cover at least some, but not all, transition related procedures remaining - there are some that fall into the gray zone of "cosmetic" surgery according to the insurance companies that get to decide what they do and do not cover.

This is something of an arbitrary distinction to draw, and over time, pressure from transgender patients and employees has moved the bar on what is deemed medically necessary quite a bit - when I had facial feminization surgery several years ago, I paid out of pocket for a procedure that would be covered by my health plan today. The same is not true at present for what I would like to get done prior to bottom surgery.

First and foremost, I am looking to get an abdominoplasty with feminizing body contouring. I store fat around my waist- as many cis women do also! - but in conjunction with my height and broad shouldered frame, it creates a midsection that is uncomfortably and disconcertingly masculine. Especially since loose skin is involved, there's realistically no amount of dieting and exercise that will correct this, and insurance covers none of it.

Additionally, I need electrolysis before gender reassignment surgery. Some doctors require this step, some don't- mine does and I would want to do it anyway to reduce the risk of complications down the line. Either way, my insurance doesn't cover it nor does it cover the local anesthetic injections required by the clinician. For some reason they don't want you raw dogging an electrified needle against your junk.

I am also estimating some cost of living expenses for recovery after surgery because the downtime for either procedure is significantly more than the sick time I have accrued at work. The likelihood of hidden expenses means that realistically I'm prepared to max out my credit cards even if I do hit my fundraising goal. But I'm sick of dealing with this and I'm sick of trying to scrimp by saving a few dollars per paycheck only to see my savings repeatedly wiped out by sudden living expenses. It's just not realistic that I can save for all of this on my own after many years of trying.

I don't like asking for help, because there are always more vulnerable people than me who would benefit more, but enough friends encouraged me to try a gofundme that I will give it a shot. So if you like my tweets, if you like me as a person, or even if you think I will be less annoying online if I am a little more self actualized, any donations or shares are appreciated.