Support Li's Pre-Surgery Hair Removal

Li Nguyen organiseert deze actie.

Beschermde donatie

Hi, my name is Li. I'm almost 27 years old and I'm an autistic trans guy.

For the past three years, I've been working on getting bottom surgery. I've gotten so far in the process, and I've hit a roadblock I've been working on for over a year. I have to get laser hair removal and/or electrolysis on my arm, and no provider is willing to bill insurance directly. I'm on Medicaid, and they are willing to review reimbursement requests, but that is on a per-session basis and I need to be prepared to pay out of pocket and wait on those reimbursements, if I get any.

Q & A

I've answered some typical questions here and included notes from the surgical team.

"How much is it really?" Laser hair removal is around $150 per session, and I should expect to need 3-6 sessions. I have not had any sessions yet. Most places do not want to give prices if you're just window-shopping. $150 /session is the lowest estimate I've gotten. So that's $450-$900.
"So why did you set this up as $300?" It would be enough to ensure I can pay for 2 sessions, wait for reimbursement, and possibly get denied. If I get reimbursed, I can pay for the next and start the process again. That's why I'm not setting this up as $450 or over.
"Are you doing laser or electrolysis?" Electrolysis is a more intense version that some people switch to after laser if it's needed. It costs more and is absolutely permanent, whereas laser is simply permanent enough for most people. I don't know how much electrolysis costs. Nobody will quote me without booking something. I will most likely have to do some electro sessions near the end because of how dangerous stray hairs could be.
"What's your transition timeline? What are you?" I'm FtM and have been on testosterone since 2020. I had top surgery in 2023.
"Can't they just leave the hair on for now and you'll have a fuzzy phallus for a bit?" No, they flip the skin graft, and hair in a urethra would be really bad.
"What about assistance programs?" I've applied for some trans medical grants. I've been denied for 3 and have not recieved responses to any others. (Point of Pride, the most well-known one, prefers to grant to trans women. TransLifeline and Dem Bois have put their grant programs on hold due to US politics.) I will be applying to Genderbands' grant program when it is open in October.
"Are you doing this anywhere else?" No, I just need it done on my right forearm.
"How do I know you're using this for 'pre-surgical hair removal on only your arm'?" I guess you won't until after. I'll upload receipts and such, but I don't know what else I could do. Update: I have these from the surgical team. They're just summaries of my visits, but they show what we've been working towards.

"How are your other finances?" Not bad. I work 32 hours a week for a disability services provider, and I won't even need to take a lot of time off after surgery since I can work sitting. I started going to college over full-time for social work in Jan. 2025. I'll have my associate's in Dec. 2025 and I'll transfer on to my bachelor's and master's. My partner works full-time at a nice restaurant and we share a car. It's a 40-minute commute but the rent is cheap. I've quit most of my hobbies to save for this and make time for school. I'm on food assistance. We managed to swap some shifts and go to Pride celebrations, but that's pretty much all we anticipate having as a "vacation" for at least a year. Our usual date night has become gaming together or going for a hike. I think we have an "out" date once a month.
"What about family?" They are aware of this page.

Asking for help, confrontation, sharing what's "wrong" with me, things like that, they really scare me. Thank you for coming this far. If you have any questions that you feel should be answered publicly, you can comment them. If you feel they should be answered privately, DM me.

This is just me and my partner at a costume party a while back. He's a vampire and I'm catboy hooters.