Hi everyone! My name is Sade (they/them), I’m a Black 25 year old trans nonbinary person, and I have decided to finally get top surgery this year. I’ve spent the better part of a decade exploring my gender identity and know that this is the necessary next step in my journey. While I have been taking steps on my own so far, I now find myself in a position where I am turning to my community of friends, family, and allies for support.

I have recently been presented with the opportunity to secure a surgery date for this summer. This timeline would allow me to finally get my top surgery and continue pursuing the college degree I have been tirelessly working towards. In addition to my academic pursuits, I am fortunate to have a full-time job and will be able to cover the cost of the surgery itself on my own.

However, as my job has only just begun, I need help raising funds for the $720 deposit needed in order to schedule the surgery. I need to meet this deadline in the next two weeks or I will lose this opportunity. This is extremely time sensitive, which is why I’m coming to you for help!

To give a little background on me, throughout my entire life, I always knew I was different. It wasn’t until late high school that I began to learn the language to describe how I felt. I have used many different ways to describe myself over the past 10 years, but the one constant for me was the dysphoria I have experienced with my chest and my desire for either a traditional top surgery or breast reduction. The dysphoria I deal with everyday impacts my quality of life. I’m always hyperaware of how clothes feel on my body. Clothing is one of the main ways in which I express myself, and I feel limited in doing so. I’m hyperaware of the way my chest moves when I dance, which was something I always loved to do as a child. But most of all, it creates a hanging sense of dread that doesn’t go away no matter how happy I am. When I found that there was an option to get gender affirming surgery through a radical reduction, to both masculinize my chest and keep an androgynous appearance, I felt a sense of calmness wash over me. A door had opened and it made sense to walk through it, so I can move through the world and be seen as I am.

This surgery will benefit me on a day-to-day basis, and I know for certain that this will help improve my life for the better. If I can make this goal in two weeks, it will ensure that I’m able to get the surgery during my summer break before the school year starts. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, it means more than you could know.