Vero's Top Surgery Fundraiser

Hey y’all, my name is Vero. I’m a transmasculine non-binary person and I’ve finally gotten the chance to get a masculinizing top surgery after a decade of struggling with chest dysphoria. I’ve been tentatively out as gender nonconforming for most of my life and confidently out as non-binary for the last 6 years. Most of my life I’ve been disconnected from my body, my chest gives me a lot of gender dysphoria. It feels as if it only gets worse as time passes, and my body doesn’t feel like it belongs to me. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to hide this chest behind bad posture, tight sports bras, binders, and binding tape. Unfortunately, they’ll never be able to get me to where I can be fully comfortable in my skin.

I waited until I was an adult and fully past puberty to start any kind of physical transitions, because of fear mongering around transitioning and because I was ~fine~ with struggling to live in my skin. Absolutely no one should have to live like that. The last two years of HRT have changed my life and made it possible for me to even seek out top surgery. I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to get top surgery.

I want to be very transparent on what I need to successfully pay for and recover from my top surgery. I have been quoted a general estimate of $4,000 for top surgery and will be taking 4 weeks off work to fully recover at home. Due to this recovery timeline, I’m hoping to raise enough money to cover rent/utilities for about 6 weeks, food costs, transportation, and pet care. The total of this gofundme is more of an estimate, and not a 100% guarantee of my surgery and recovery costs, but I will be updating this statement as things change!

Unfortunately, there is a chance that my surgery date gets moved to next year since it currently scheduled right up to the end of the year. After December 30th I will not be covered by insurance and my $4,000 surgery jumps up to a $60,000 surgery. Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen, but again I’ll keep this fundraiser updated on any changes that occur.

With less financial stressors post-surgery, I’ll be able to fully focus on my recovery so I can return to living my life as my whole self. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has read this and is considering donating. Any donation means the world to me. Please share this if you can’t donate, and share it if you can donate too!

Any funds that I don’t use for my surgery and recovery will be donated to the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund. Everyone deserves to have access to gender-affirming care.