Life Saving Top Surgery for Ashton

Hello! My name is Ashton Quinn. I am a 26 year old trans man living in Newfoundland, Canada and I am in desperate need of top surgery. I came out in the Winter of 2015 and started hormone replacement therapy early 2016. Coming out has made my life a lot easier, but over the last six months I have reached a point that I can not live without top surgery due to a number of factors that are worsening everyday. I am struggling with suicidal ideation on a daily basis and I don't know where else to turn at the moment.

My chest is the root cause of my mental health struggles, as it is for most trans men, and after a barrage of attempts at treating my depression through antidepressants, I've hit a roadblock where I can not move forward without attacking the root cause of my biggest problem. Among the problems I face are the damage my binder does to my physical and mental health, the overwhelming gender dysphoria I experience due to my large bust, and the complete annihilation of anything resembling a social life, and because my chest outs me as being transgender, the threats of physical violence I have received.

If you are unaware, a binder is supposed to help trans men pass and give them some level of self-recognition by flattening the chest but mine has been an albatross hung about my neck. I wear my binder 8 hours a day, as I work full time on the leadership team for Chapters (Indigo). I am on my feet for nearly the entirety of my shifts and I am constantly aware of the binders constriction as I move about the store. I exceed the limitations on hours I'm supposed to wear the binder every day, and it is damaging my back, ribs, and lung capacity, but I accept this because the alternative of having my chest be visible is far worse. I can not continue to pick between the physical pain of wearing the binder and the mental pain of going without it. I have had to seek medical treatment for my back pain, and I have difficulty breathing at times. I can not agree to marry or plan a wedding with my partner of 11 years, the love of my life, because my life is on hold until I get this surgery. I can not go out with my friends or enjoy events in the city because of how many hours I spend in the binder at work. I have been housebound for two years. I can feel my body and mind breaking down and I am losing myself. The only way I can fix this is through top surgery.

I have been on a wait list for the only type of “top surgery” our province covers for two years. The procedure is not true top surgery for transgender men. My doctor has very rightly called it a “disfiguring surgery”. There is currently no coverage for the surgery I need. There are plans in place for eventual coverage, but I can not wait years and years on a wait list while the government gets its act together. I do not have years of waiting left in me, and this has in all honestly become a life and death situation for me.

What I am asking for with this GoFundMe is help covering the following:
-Double Incision Top Surgery plus applicable taxes
-Assistance with airfare to Ontario, as this surgery is unavailable in my province

I ask from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and empathy in what has been the most difficult period of my life. I thank you so much for reading and ask that you please share the link to my story.

All the Best,
Ashton Quinn