Donation protected
Hi everyone! If you don't know me, I'm a genderqueer 20 year old college student and I am in the process of medically transitioning.
I publicly came out as transgender in 2015, I legally changed my name in 2016, I started testosterone in 2017, I got top surgery in 2017, and I had a hysterectomy in 2018. Now I'm preparing for the final step in my transition: phalloplasty.
My surgery is scheduled for May 7th, 2021 and my insurance's out of pocket maximum is $15,800 which means I'm going to have to pay at least that much for the surgery.
But I've been working part time since age 16 to save money for my transition- I worked as a page at the local library in high school, and now I'm a rising sophomore attending Sarah Lawrence College and I'm currently working the maximum number of hours a week that students are allowed to work on campus. Through my hard work, I currently have a total of $10,000 saved.
I'm doing all I can to save money, but after paying for regular blood work for my testosterone ($200 per lab done multiple times per year plus $60 copay every endocrinologist appointment), my top surgery ($3,000 out of pocket after insurance) and my hysterectomy (also $3,000 out of pocket after insurance) I don't have enough saved to pay for my phalloplasty, which will cost much more than any of the transition steps I've taken so far.
Phalloplasty requires months of expensive electrolysis hair removal pre-op which I need to start as soon as possible, and so far I've already had to pay $500 for my consultation with the surgeons alone.
I had to have a CT scan performed to evaluate the vasculature in my leg to see if I'm even a candidate for this phalloplasty procedure and to help the surgeons plan their appreoach, and as you can see from my redacted bill below, I have to pay $4,000 out of pocket and I need help to pay this bill off in full. I can't afford for it to be sent to the debt collection again which will make my credit score even lower.
[Image description: A radiology bill addressed to me for $4,199.06 /End ID]
I'm going to keep working and keep saving money and I'm not asking for people to donate the full amount that surgery will cost, but I need to be able to pay off this CT scan so I can then focus on saving money to start the electrolysis (which is medically necessary) without using all the funds I need to keep saved for the actual surgery.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for donating if you can- any amount will help! I also appreciate shares to social media.
-Lee Brown
[Image description: Lee smiling at the camera in front of a transgender pride flag]
