Len's gender affirming surgery fund

Hey, my name is Len and I’m a 25 year old non-binary trans masc looking to get something off my chest (literally). I've been thinking about top surgery for the past few years but receiving care in the UK via the Gender Identity Clinic can take over 5 years, even the first appointment with the GIC itself can be a 2 year wait. In the past 4 months my bra size has increased again and every attempt to change or stop this has failed.  

Most days I bind but this is a stressful and painful experience that causes pain in my ribs after long periods and I often suffer with back/shoulder pain posture from subconsciously trying to minimise my chest.

After getting Covid at Christmas my recovery has been long and tumultuous and I have several symptoms of long covid - in particular a lot of difficulty breathing. This has meant I can bind less often and when I do it causes far more pain and exacerbates my breathings problems leaving me unable to walk even a few steps without being breathless. For now, I am trying to balance caring for myself by binding only when I feel I have to, but this has the effect of triggering intense feelings of gender dysphoria and making life hard in other ways.  

I’ve started researching surgery options and the two I’ve narrowed it down to both cost £9000, I will post a more comprehensive breakdown of the budget in here as and when I get it.

At the moment I only work part time and earn no where near enough to save for the surgery on my own. Alongside this fundraiser I have plans to actively fundraiser via an event and a friend who is helping me design T-shirts. This fundraiser itself has been going for a couple of years now, and I’m so grateful to all who have donated and shared it.

The money raised, alongside as much as I can save myself and fundraise in other avenues, will pay for my surgery and the subsequent recovery period, and anything leftover will be paid forward to other surgery funds.

Asking people for money on the internet is weird and times are hard right now I know,  if you can and want to donate I'd appreciate it so much, if not please share with others.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, all my love. Len x