Melz's Top Surgery Fund
Donation protected
Thank you for landing on this page, I appreciate it more than you know.
This is the hardest thing I have ever done.
But here goes nothing, my name is Melz Meshach Yaa-Yaw Owusu. I’m a black non-binary/ transmasculine freelance speaker & writer based between London and Leeds. I am also a PhD student, who has recently suspended study due to mental health.
A great deal of my depression and anxiety rises from my dysphoria and discomfort in my own body and gender. Top surgery is a procedure that will remove my chest tissue in order to lessen my gender dysphoria and essentially transform my life for the better.
Here’s an article I wrote about accepting myself as a black trans-masculine person: https://bit.ly/2PwbomB
My chest is quite large and causes me a lot of gender dysphoria and is what many people look to in an attempt to conclude my gender, which only serves to make me feel both violated and dysphoric. It also means non-surgical ways to flatten my chest do not give me anywhere near the results I need.
Asking for help is terrifying. Asking for help for something so incredibly personal is beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of doing. But here we are. This is me being very vulnerable and open in hope you will meet me with any support you’re able to.
As I am sure you are all aware NHS provisions for trans people are wholly insufficient, with a current 24 month wait before being able to have even an initial consultation and beyond that getting surgery could take anything from 2 – 5 years. I simply cannot wait that long. Still, I have self-funded as many aspects of my transition that I can, including; my initial assessment, endocrinologist appointments, and therapy which have reached almost £1000.
Having top surgery will transform my life in the most beautiful and incredible way. The benefits to my mental health and general happiness are inexplicable.
I often try and compartmentalise and push down the things that I know I need and this whole journey is something I have been trying to avoid for such a long time. I’ve realised the only person that suffers in that is me.
For those of you that know me you will know that most of my time is spent advocating, building, and theorising for marginalised communities. I am used to being the person providing the help and support others need. I am far less familiar being the person receiving that support, and I won’t lie this is incredibly uncomfortable, but I can’t even express how much I need this.
So, I am asking with a fearful yet open and hopeful heart that you may be able to help me on this journey.
Break down of funds:
Surgery: c.£7,000
Consultations: c.£1,000
Travel, accommodation*, and aftercare: c.£2,000
*I will need to stay in the town I am having the surgery in for about a week before I am able to travel back to London
Any level and kind of support that you can offer is honestly so incredibly appreciated.
I love you all, thank you <3.
Image: Martha Ibukun <3
This is the hardest thing I have ever done.
But here goes nothing, my name is Melz Meshach Yaa-Yaw Owusu. I’m a black non-binary/ transmasculine freelance speaker & writer based between London and Leeds. I am also a PhD student, who has recently suspended study due to mental health.
A great deal of my depression and anxiety rises from my dysphoria and discomfort in my own body and gender. Top surgery is a procedure that will remove my chest tissue in order to lessen my gender dysphoria and essentially transform my life for the better.
Here’s an article I wrote about accepting myself as a black trans-masculine person: https://bit.ly/2PwbomB
My chest is quite large and causes me a lot of gender dysphoria and is what many people look to in an attempt to conclude my gender, which only serves to make me feel both violated and dysphoric. It also means non-surgical ways to flatten my chest do not give me anywhere near the results I need.
Asking for help is terrifying. Asking for help for something so incredibly personal is beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of doing. But here we are. This is me being very vulnerable and open in hope you will meet me with any support you’re able to.
As I am sure you are all aware NHS provisions for trans people are wholly insufficient, with a current 24 month wait before being able to have even an initial consultation and beyond that getting surgery could take anything from 2 – 5 years. I simply cannot wait that long. Still, I have self-funded as many aspects of my transition that I can, including; my initial assessment, endocrinologist appointments, and therapy which have reached almost £1000.
Having top surgery will transform my life in the most beautiful and incredible way. The benefits to my mental health and general happiness are inexplicable.
I often try and compartmentalise and push down the things that I know I need and this whole journey is something I have been trying to avoid for such a long time. I’ve realised the only person that suffers in that is me.
For those of you that know me you will know that most of my time is spent advocating, building, and theorising for marginalised communities. I am used to being the person providing the help and support others need. I am far less familiar being the person receiving that support, and I won’t lie this is incredibly uncomfortable, but I can’t even express how much I need this.
So, I am asking with a fearful yet open and hopeful heart that you may be able to help me on this journey.
Break down of funds:
Surgery: c.£7,000
Consultations: c.£1,000
Travel, accommodation*, and aftercare: c.£2,000
*I will need to stay in the town I am having the surgery in for about a week before I am able to travel back to London
Any level and kind of support that you can offer is honestly so incredibly appreciated.
I love you all, thank you <3.
Image: Martha Ibukun <3
Organizer
Melz Yaa
Organizer
