Isla's Gender Affirmation Fund

My name is Isla Love Clarke and I am a trans woman from Canada. I am a professional dancer/performer working and living in the Netherlands.

 

Throughout my life, I have struggled with my body and my gender identity. It was only within this past year that I have been able to put language to the complex feelings that I have repressed for most of my life. I have been on Hormone Replacement Therapy and am in the process of affirming my gender after so many years of discomfort and confusion.

I am starting this GoFundMe to help cover the costs of my Facial Feminization Surgery, as I am unable to pay for it entirely on my own. It is a very expensive procedure that is not covered by the Dutch healthcare system and in some cases, is not seen as necessary. There are hospital fees, the actual cost of the procedure, the duration of stay in the hospital and so on. With my current financial situation, it is very difficult for me to be able to put aside enough money for this surgery. Which is why I am asking for help from my friends, loved ones, queer community and whoever is willing to financially help me with this gender affirming procedure.

I experience Gender Dysphoria, which means for me that I struggle on a daily basis with existing in my body and finding the capacity to love it and myself. It is a constant trauma, being in a body that does not allow me and the world to see the woman that I am. FFS is a series of procedures that can have the power to help alleviate facial Dysphoria, along with offering me more safety in the world, and comfort in my body. In addition to possibly helping me navigate spaces without the fear of being misgendered, mocked, harassed or attacked. For me, FFS is something that I have been dreaming of for a long time, and I would like to be able to move on to the next chapter of my transition, with your help.

 

Transitioning, for me, is a continual process of letting go, breaking and reconstructing, it is the act of loving oneself enough to stand up against society on a daily basis. It is the knowing that despite the systems that we have been forced into, resilience is the only way towards self-actualisation.