Hi! My name is Louis, and I am a transgender man. I have known my identity was mismatched since early fifth grade and from then on began my social transition. I began taking testosterone early 2024 and have recently had my name legally changed! All of these changes have been lifesavers for me and given me hope and purpose for the future. However, being a transgender man can come with immense dysphoria and the dysphoria that haunts me stays on my chest. I have been binding for nearly 7 years and the strain has been getting immense. It has been especially difficult as someone immersed in martial arts. Currently, I am taking a break due to spending the time focusing on school and working to save up the money, but Judo means the world to me. It has brought me back to life during the rough parts of my life that felt extremely hopeless. As with any martial art, it is strenuous, and it takes a lot out of you. With binding consistently and doing martial arts, I know it was going to get rough on my body even further as I progressed. Getting top surgery would not only alleviate me of the long-time dysphoria but would bring me back into a sport that has helped me so much. I want to be able to comfortably do the sport I love and adore and grow further and help with the community that has been built in my martial arts academy.

Currently, I have a date scheduled for top surgery! My surgery is scheduled for August 8th, 2025, and the estimated amount has been totaled to $7,500, not including post op care, medications, and blood work. I am fortunate to have had the money to pay the $1,500 deposit fee alongside an additional $3.5k and currently owe $2,500 that will be due two weeks prior to my surgery date.

I am aiming to raise around $3,000 to cover the remaining expenses of the surgery and the expenses of post op recovery, transportation, and the time that will be spent off of work as I will have to take a minimum of a month off.

Thank you to anyone who is able to financially contribute and help support my goals of achieving this lifetime goal of mine. Any amount helps graciously and if you are unable to donate, sharing goes a long way. If you have gotten this far, thank you for reading my story.