Hello friends & family! We’re thrilled to announce that Mariela is in the process of getting top surgery

Mariela lives in North Carolina with her beautiful wife Kristen, pup Niko and cat Molly. As you can imagine our family is really excited about this step, but the financial burden is a lot to take on top of life’s many other bills.

The total costs for this life-affirming surgery come to about $10K. Mariela would not be covered by her health insurance and it is expensive. Your donation would cover some of the costs below including the six weeks of unpaid leave Mariela would need to take to recover.

• Surgeon Fee $3,675.00
• Anesthesia Fee $1,755
• Facility Fee $2,613
• Non-refundable to reserve surgery date $500
• Pathology bill from hospital lab (mandatory by Hospital) $1,200
• Total: $9,743

Your donation would help Mariela so much - even if it’s $1 - that would make her so much closer to getting surgery. Please share with your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter! Thank you so much for supporting our family in advance!!

Here's a little more info about Mariela:

Hello, my name is Mariela (she/her they/them). I graduated from Johnson & Wales University in 2016, and after that, my partner and I moved to North Carolina to begin our next chapter in life. I am a funny, loving, family-oriented person, and I love spending time with my wife and pets! I am also a non-binary person, and I have always struggled with the appearance of my chest area. About 4 years ago I started going to therapy because I was having a lot of anxiety and gender dysphoria whenever I had to leave the house. I decided to start binding my chest, and I currently do this every day for 8/12 hours to help ease my anxiety. Binding has helped minimally, but I am still very self-conscious and easily stressed in social environments because I don’t feel like my true self. It has gotten to the point where I avoid doing things that I love, which affects my emotional health. In addition, I am experiencing severe back pain and pain in my ribs because of the long hours wearing the binder. My therapist helped me locate a surgeon in my area that performs gender-affirming surgery, and finally (after 4 years of actively trying to make this happen) I am scheduled to have my Top Surgery on September 1st, 2021!

My health insurance doesn’t cover the cost of the surgery or necessary pre/post-op appointments. I am planning on applying for short-term disability through my workplace to help with the costs of daily life while I am recovering and out of work for 6-8 weeks, but even if approved this will not be enough to pay the bills. My wife and I are currently saving as much money as we can to help pay for the surgery, but it has been hard to reach our goal because of living expenses. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than to live the rest of my life as my truest self, thank you so much for supporting me on this journey!