Help Vera Pay for Gender-Affirming Surgery

I'm raising funds for gender-affirming surgery for my beautiful and talented partner Vera.

Many who know Vera know her as a jack-of-all-trades: a talented musician, DJ, sound and instrument designer, performer, visual artist, writer, software engineer, and more. She has performed several times at First Friday in Downtown Las Vegas, DJ'd at events across the country, and exhibited her art at international shows.

She's also one of the kindest people I know, always willing to lend her talents to helping people in need or providing advice to others along their own journeys. She is an avid writer and has published free books and articles to assist others with their own music. And even before she came out herself, she was an avid supporter of the LGBTQ community.

Vera and I have been working for years to be able to fulfill her wish of getting bottom surgery, and she finally has a date set; however, with this major milestone in her transition comes a lot of uncertainty.

After the surgery itself, we have been informed that Vera will spend several days in the hospital healing and being monitored for possible complications of the procedure. This is an expense we cannot yet account for, as it is not certain what, and how much, her insurance will cover until after the procedure is complete.

Our current estimate is that altogether it will likely cost around $6,500, but it could be more. Despite multiple calls to providers and insurance, we simply will not know exactly how much the procedure will cost until it is complete — and even then, potentially not for several weeks after.

Adding to this uncertainty, we have little way of knowing exactly when Vera will be able to return to work after her hospital stay and she is the primary source of income for our household. While we have done all we can to prepare for the worst and save for this, the inability to fully predict this expense has created a lot of anxiety around the achievement of a lifelong goal and what should be cause for celebration.

Because of this uncertainty, I've opened this GoFundMe to help Vera move forward with this procedure with confidence and with the support of her friends and her community. Any donations will go directly to Vera's medical costs and expenses, as well as making up for pay lost from the interruption to our normal income.

If you've enjoyed any of the many things Vera has created — if you've gained knowledge from her writing, if you've enjoyed her music, if you've seen her art or been there for a performance — or even if you'd just like to help out a member of the community, please consider donating. We really appreciate anything you could spare to help.