Rhys’ Top Surgery and Recovery Fund

Hello, my name is Rhys (they/he) and I am a out of work transgender artist living in the Houston area. I am 33 years old and have been on testosterone for one year, and have known I was transgender since before I even had a word for it. During the stress of the pandemic I realized that I have nothing to gain from continuing to put off transition, and now the next step is getting top surgery.

Top surgery (double mastectomy with chest reconstruction) is something I’ve wanted for decades now, but never thought it was something that could be an option until now. I have extreme chest-related dysphoria that causes me intense mental distress, and on top of that the size of my bust is actually causing me health issues - welts, rashes, neck and shoulder pain, and an inability to work out due to discomfort from their size. There are, quite frankly, many days where I wake up and would rather die than continue to live with this level of chronic pain and dysphoria from having large breasts.

While there is a small chance that the procedure will be in a small percentage covered by insurance, the final amount will still be several thousands of dollars ($5000-7000), and that’s not including consultations, pre-surgery counseling, post-operative healthcare and potential revisions, and to cushion the loss of money I would lose from not being able to work during the recovery time from the double incision procedure.

Any amount that can be given will be most appreciated and will be put into a savings account that I will only pull from for the process of this surgery.