Hey, I’m Miles, a 27 year old transgender man. I’m raising money for my FTM gender affirming chest masculinization, also known as “top surgery” or mastectomy. At the time of starting the fundraiser, my insurance did not cover gender affirming care. My current insurance does cover a portion of the costs and they are broken down below for those curious.

For a little background: I’ve been out as a trans man since 2017 and have been binding my chest since 2016. Eight years of compression hasn’t been the kindest to my ribs/chest and I’ve put off a lot of things in my life, big goals and smaller things, due to to gender dysphoria and severe discomfort with my chest. Some of it seems trivial like how much I love to swim but loathe having to cover my chest to do so, but it weighs heavy on me regardless of the relative size of the roadblock. The effect dysphoria has had on my mental and physical health over the years has led to some severe depression and anxiety as well as spinal issues from posture problems (slouching to hide my chest) and lung capacity from binding. Binding one's chest is unfortunately generally unsafe, and even following all the guidelines with the best rated binders can still result in many issues. I can no longer continue to cause daily incremental harm to my body to try and appease my dysphoria, nor can I continue to put my life on pause waiting until the day that I get to be comfortable in my skin. I've been on Testosterone for about 3 years consecutively now (03/15/2021) and the changes from it have greatly improved my mental health and overall appreciation for myself. Getting top surgery is the final piece that I need to feel truly like myself and unfortunately I'm unable to fund this goal on my own.

Surgery is scheduled for October 28th, 2024. 

The quoted costs after insurance, updated as of 8/23/24, are as follows:

Surgeon: $1500

Surgery center fee: $2500

Anesthesiologist: $900

Additional Pathology: $650 

Recovery Time (bills for 10 weeks): $5,000

I know that these totals added together are less than the fundraising goal. Part of that is because I do have about $1300 in a health savings that I have set side for this procedure. I work 40 hour weeks at my job, sometimes more, and still this is the most I’ve managed to save up, so simply doing it alone would take a very long time. I do also have some family support that was sent outside of this fundraiser that I've deducted from the total goal.

I am factoring in that I will need time off work for recovery, and at my current job I don't get much PTO or sick time so I'm going to have to figure out a way to pay bills until I'm able to return to work.

If by some stroke of insane luck, the fundraiser receives more than the goal, I will be donating any extra to other trans individuals surgery/care funds for their gender affirming care.

I hate asking for help, and more often than not prefer to do things by myself when I can. It’s taken a lot for me to get to a place where I can ask for help with anything, but in this case I recognize I can’t do this alone. 

Even if you can only make a small donation or share this link with others, I appreciate you taking the time to read this and helping me.