Bye Bye Boobies - Hunter’s Top Surgery

Hey everyone! I’m Hunter, a 23 year old nonbinary trans person & my pronouns are they/them/theirs. I’ve recently received an official date for top surgery, a crucial & necessary step I need to take in order to live my life. For a bit of backstory, I came out as trans to most people when I was 19. I started binding my chest, a very common gender-affirming tactic used by some of the trans masc community who experience chest dysphoria. In February of 2019 the stars aligned & I was finally able to start testosterone! Starting T (& getting top surgery) was not a decision I took lightly at all - hell, it took me four years to get this far, & I’m one of the lucky ones. I tried to put off top surgery for as long as possible, but physically my body can no longer handle binding every day, & not binding (i.e. wearing a sports bra/going braless) is not an option for me for a lot of reasons. The changes the last year has brought me taught me a lot about myself & really helped to solidify my goals for my future. I’ve always experienced a lot of dysphoria around my chest, which has only worsened with time. Although being on testosterone has helped me to mitigate some of my dysphoria, the only way to combat chest dysphoria is binding or getting top surgery. I have bound almost every day for the last four years, & working full time has dramatically exacerbated the pain I experience with binding lately. After months of waiting & having to reschedule multiple consults with surgeons, I am happy to announce that I finally have a scheduled date for top surgery!! I will be receiving surgery on January 30, 2020 in Manhattan with Dr. Alexes Hazen. Getting a surgery date makes the next few months way more bearable than they would have been otherwise. While I’m hoping my insurance will be able to cover a portion of the surgical costs, it won’t cover everything & there are recovery costs to consider as well. In order to recover I will be taking two weeks off of work after surgery, & I’ve created this gofundme to lessen the financial burden. I’m beginning my fundraising goal at $3000, in order to meet the surgical deductible my insurance requires & mitigate some of the extensive recovery expenses. A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. Even $1 helps get me $1 closer to a life I’ll be happy living! I also understand that not everyone has the capacity to donate, so sharing this fundraiser is appreciated just as much as a donation! Your support means the world to me & helps to make the rest of my life possible. If you can’t support my campaign at this time, I encourage you to keep your eyes open for other campaigns from trans folks in the future! Healthcare is a terrifying thing when trans & we often have to rely on crowd funding in order to afford the care we require. Real tangible trans support starts at home! I’ll wrap things up by prematurely thanking anyone & everyone who donates, considers donating, or shares this campaign. When I look down at my chest in the future, I’ll see every one of you reflected. Thank you all so much for supporting me thus far, & I hope to be so lucky in the future. Much love, Hunter