Hello,

My name is Steffanie and I’m creating this GoFundMe to support my incredibly resilient brother Reece. For the sake of his safety and privacy, I will not be sharing his photo publicly. As we know, trans rights and trans people are being targeted in our country (and around the word) and my brother lives in a community where it is currently unsafe for queer people to live openly as they are. But I want to share a little about the person I’m hoping to help.

My brother is a father, husband, son, brother, friend, and teacher. He is the primary breadwinner for his family of four, including two young children. He works long hours, often 10 hours a day, six days a week and when he’s not working, he’s home caring for and supporting his family. Years ago, he phoned me to share who he truly was and that he was going to begin the process of transitioning. To say I’m proud of him is an understatement and the joy of watching him be able to FINALLY live his life authentically has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.

My brother and I have also lived the majority of our lives in larger bodies. We’ve both experienced the realities of systemic fatphobia especially within the medical system. The cost of living in a larger body doesn’t just show up in clothing sizes or airplane seats; it can also appear in life-affirming healthcare.

Over the past six months, my brother has been working with doctors and surgeons toward gender-affirming top surgery. This surgery is not cosmetic. This surgery is vital for his mental health, safety, and ability to live fully as himself. However, because of the body he lives in, incredibly unexpected fees have been added to his surgery cost. The parts of his surgery that require partial liposuction - even though he cannot get one without the other in order to have his top surgery result in a success - have been labelled as cosmetic. And the shock and disappointment of receiving a $19,000 bill has left him overwhelmed & rightly concerned about the major impact this will have on himself and his family. That total does not include the cost of recovering for 6-8 weeks, and as he brings in the main source of income for his family - this news is devastating.

I am hoping to raise funds to help ease this financial burden so that he can focus on healing, rather than worrying about how his family will manage during recovery. Any support, whether through donating or sharing it means more than you know. I love my brother so very much and I thank you for getting this far along in reading why he is so deserving of some help in a time where his very existence is being attacked instead of celebrated.

Thank you,

-Reece's sister, Steffanie