Rae Inmon's Top Surgery
Donation protected
This is super hard for me to do, so thanks for stopping in on this page. I’m Rae Inmon, a nonbinary person living in Texas. I’m a board-certified music therapist, but last year, I had to take a hiatus from the career I love due to my overwhelming dysphoria. I was forcing myself to pass as female, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t help anyone if I am not true to myself. There was also no way I could compete my work load as an MT while also physically transitioning (my singing voice would be unstable), and there is no way I could bind and sing, play instruments, and lead music and movement groups without injuring myself. My voice will stabilize soon, but until complete top surgery, it's unlikely I will return to to my music therapy career.
I’ve identified as non-binary since 2012, and being a masc human with Double D’s is extremely hard, especially in the south. I bind every day for work, despite the back, neck, and TMJ issues I’ve dealt with for most of my life that are exacerbated by binding. I have also been on T for the better part of a year. Even with the beginnings of a beard and binding, I am constantly misgendered because of my chest. This constant misgendering and gender dysphoria is mentally and physically exhausting. But I cannot escape it because of my body.
I made the decision to pursue top surgery after realizing I can’t keep doing this. I hoped at first that insurance might cover the procedure; however, I live in Texas. The insurance rep I worked with was incredibly transphobic and told me that it just wasn’t going to happen. This left me with two options: continue to suffer intense gender dysphoria, misgendering, and the risk of daily violence due to my gender representation and continue to delay my career OR cover the surgery out of pocket.
I can’t continue living this way with my chest as it is. It’s hard for me just to look in the mirror and see it every day. So really, my only option is to pay out of pocket. I met with a surgeon in April of this year for a consultation to have top surgery in May of 2020. I was hoping to only get the top surgery without nipples included (because why not have a space alien chest for a space alien human?), in the hopes that would be about $4,000-$5,000, but the surgeon refused to offer that. Instead, he quoted me $6,750 and also said I would need to be prepared to pay more for the post-op antibiotics and pain medications. Between the surgery cost, post-op meds, and fundraising fees, I’m needing at least $7,000 to cover everything.
I’ve always been really bad about asking for help. I want to be able to do things on my own, but I don’t know that I can with this. I’ve been saving for years, but I was saving for the $4,000 nippleless option and banking on insurance helping at least a little bit. Neither of those panned out though. So now I’m stuck, staring down a $7,000 bill that I cannot afford.
Asking for this is terrifying for me, but I need help.
I am hoping to raise as much as I can using this GoFundMe to cover the costs of the surgery. I know that few GoFundMes for surgeries such as mine are fully funded, so I’m researching other ways to supplement these costs, including pulling extra shifts at work, getting a personal loan, or offering commissions for services like creating art, reading tarot, and giving astrology readings. Speaking of, if you are interested in an art piece, oil blend, homemade candles/wax melts, and/or a tarot or astrology reading in exchange for your donation, please let me know.
All of the donations raised will go directly towards surgery and medication costs and GoFundMe fees. Any support is greatly appreciated, even just a share goes a long way. Thank you so much for reading and helping me on my path to showing the world who I really am.
I’ve identified as non-binary since 2012, and being a masc human with Double D’s is extremely hard, especially in the south. I bind every day for work, despite the back, neck, and TMJ issues I’ve dealt with for most of my life that are exacerbated by binding. I have also been on T for the better part of a year. Even with the beginnings of a beard and binding, I am constantly misgendered because of my chest. This constant misgendering and gender dysphoria is mentally and physically exhausting. But I cannot escape it because of my body.
I made the decision to pursue top surgery after realizing I can’t keep doing this. I hoped at first that insurance might cover the procedure; however, I live in Texas. The insurance rep I worked with was incredibly transphobic and told me that it just wasn’t going to happen. This left me with two options: continue to suffer intense gender dysphoria, misgendering, and the risk of daily violence due to my gender representation and continue to delay my career OR cover the surgery out of pocket.
I can’t continue living this way with my chest as it is. It’s hard for me just to look in the mirror and see it every day. So really, my only option is to pay out of pocket. I met with a surgeon in April of this year for a consultation to have top surgery in May of 2020. I was hoping to only get the top surgery without nipples included (because why not have a space alien chest for a space alien human?), in the hopes that would be about $4,000-$5,000, but the surgeon refused to offer that. Instead, he quoted me $6,750 and also said I would need to be prepared to pay more for the post-op antibiotics and pain medications. Between the surgery cost, post-op meds, and fundraising fees, I’m needing at least $7,000 to cover everything.
I’ve always been really bad about asking for help. I want to be able to do things on my own, but I don’t know that I can with this. I’ve been saving for years, but I was saving for the $4,000 nippleless option and banking on insurance helping at least a little bit. Neither of those panned out though. So now I’m stuck, staring down a $7,000 bill that I cannot afford.
Asking for this is terrifying for me, but I need help.
I am hoping to raise as much as I can using this GoFundMe to cover the costs of the surgery. I know that few GoFundMes for surgeries such as mine are fully funded, so I’m researching other ways to supplement these costs, including pulling extra shifts at work, getting a personal loan, or offering commissions for services like creating art, reading tarot, and giving astrology readings. Speaking of, if you are interested in an art piece, oil blend, homemade candles/wax melts, and/or a tarot or astrology reading in exchange for your donation, please let me know.
All of the donations raised will go directly towards surgery and medication costs and GoFundMe fees. Any support is greatly appreciated, even just a share goes a long way. Thank you so much for reading and helping me on my path to showing the world who I really am.
Organizer
Rae Inmon
Organizer
Denton, TX
