Top Surgery for Scout
Help a 21 year old takatapui individual get lifesaving surgery.
Otago
Kia ora, my name is Scout, and I'm a 21 year old takatapui/transgender person living in Otepoti, Aotearoa.
I have nearly fully legally transitioned, and have started my medical transition journey by starting testosterone in April 2016.
While my mood is more stable on testosterone, I still cannot see myself surviving long term while I have to live in a body that feels so wrong. Gender dysphoria has driven me to self harm, suicide attempts, and I even developed Anorexia Nervosa as a teenager in an attempt to "shape" my body into something androgynous. I struggle every day with the impulse to let myself relapse so I can look masculine again.
I need to have top surgery, or a double mastectomy and chest reconstruction, to reclaim my body and potentially save my own life. A friend has gotten a loan for his top surgery, and got enough with the loan to cover my surgery too. I'm still fundraising so I can help pay back as much of the loan as possible
There are few surgeons in New Zealand anymore who will perform this on transgender people. The waitlist in the public system is agonizing and brutal, the cost of the private system totally prohibitive. So I'm looking into potentially travelling overseas for the surgery if my time on the waitlist is projected to be any longer than I can handle.
This, sadly, still costs a lot. I'll have to pay for flights, the surgery itself, accommodation post-surgery, and food costs while I am there - for myself, and for a support person to come with me.
This surgery is corrective, not cosmetic. Top surgery saves the lives of transgender people around the world. Please help me save mine and correct my body to match my gender.
If the Southern District Health Board allows me publicly funded top surgery in Aotearoa before the end of this campaign, all money raised will be put towards organisations like Tranzgear and queer support services across the country to keep saving lives.
nb: $20k is an estimate, and would give me options and wriggle room in case of surgery mishaps. Any excess funds will also be put towards organisations such as Tranzgear, who do incredible work keeping transgender folk like myself safe.
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Latest update
Could be good news! 27 October 2016
Kia ora all!
Thanks heeeeaps for your donations so far, I appreciate every dollar donated. We're sitting at $345 right now, which is incredible! We just have to keep the momentum going.
I had an endocrinologist appointment today, and I asked her what options I /do/ have for publicly funded surgery. She told me that there's actually a working group at the Southern District Health Board who met today about what sorts of gender affirming surgeries they can provide in Dunedin! She thinks I could very easily get top surgery here, I'm a little hesitant because of the wait time.
So that's where I'm at right now. I'm going to keep this fundraiser open, because obviously there'll be the time that I won't be able to work, etc, but there is also still the likelihood that I will have to travel overseas.
A few people have inquired with Givealittle, I guess about the legitimacy of this fundraising campaign? Apparently my surgery has "already been funded" by someone else. As my page has said for several weeks now, that's not the case! A friend is getting a loan for his top surgery, and is able to get enough to cover mine too. Obviously I don't want to saddle him with $10k in debt or whatever on my behalf, so this fundraiser will help pay off that loan. That loan is how we get our surgeries done before gender dysphoria has any further negative effect on our mental health!
Again, thank you for the support in this campaign. It's a relief to know so many people care, and again, I appreciate every dollar donated.
Thank you,
Scout
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