Zenobia's top surgery

Hi everyone! My name is Zenobia and I’m 28, I identify as non-binary and my pronouns are they/he.

Like many other people like me, I am crowdsourcing what I can so that I am able to pay for my top surgery(double mastectomy), and the many other required doctor, psychologist and surgeon appointments and also the cost incurred during my recovery and the time needed off work.

I wanted to share a part of my story with you all.

From my earliest memories I remember being very different to the kids in my class. When I was very young I asked my mother if I could cut all of my hair off and I only felt comfortable wearing boys clothing. I would swim without my shirt on, and then once I hit puberty my parents had to force me to wear one while swimming and eventually my mother made me wear a bra too. I remember standing in the boys line at school sports, because that was where I felt I belonged, and being turned down and told to run with the girls, which I did because I felt too confused and shy to say otherwise. I would walk into the girls toilet when out in public and girls my age would ask me why I was in there because I looked like a boy. My childhood was an extremely confusing and difficult time for me, and though things became somewhat easier for me as I got older, it was only because I had started to subconsciously suppress my feelings and tried to avoid these dysphoric situations as best as I could. Now I am 28 and over the past few years I have tried to dig up a lot of what I had suppressed, so that I can move forward in a way that is more true to myself. My journey has been a difficult and confusing one, but I now feel more clear in who I am then I have in a very long time, and quite honestly, every day I get up and have to look down and see my chest is excruciatingly painful for me. This surgery will only bring me that much closer to being a truer version of myself and what sits right in my heart. I cannot express how grateful I am now that I am on a path forward to having it done. The cost of the surgery is the only thing standing in my way.

Unfortunately top surgery is not covered by Medicare here in Australia, and the procedure is extremely expensive. I will be able to take money out of my super under Medical Treatment, but this still won’t be nearly enough to cover the costs of my surgery. I am hoping that I can crowd source as much as possible so that I will have enough relying on these two sources, but if not I will need to fundraise in other ways. I have outlined the estimated costs for this procedure below to give everyone a general idea of what it is I have to pay for

Surgeons fee $9000

Anaesthetic fee $2500

Hospital fee(one night stay) $4000-$4700

2 weeks off work $1600

Doctors referrals $390

Surgeon appointments $300

Psychologist appointments for WPATH assessment(to ensure I am making the right choice) $660-$1100

I have booked my surgery in for the 20th of October this year, so it is going to be a big push to get all of this money together! If you could please share this around as much as possibly, that would be a great help.

Thank you for being with me on this journey, your support in whatever form is deeply appreciated.