Reilly's Top Surgery Fund

Hi,

I'm Reilly Sage, a 32-year-old non-binary, autistic and chronically ill human, and I am hoping for some help in raising funds towards gender-affirming top surgery, as well as post-surgery care needs and support items for recovery, if at all possible.

Top surgery is surgery performed on the chest to remove breast tissue and produce a flatter appearance of the chest.

I have long experienced extreme gender dysphoria and distress regarding my chest; my body does not feel like my own. I utilise chest binders and binding tape to flatten my chest daily, both of which have risks when utilised long term. Even in the short term, taping causes blistering and has left me with scars from broken skin, and in hot weather, chest binders cause overheating which impacts the management of one of my chronic conditions - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Gender dysphoria has also been a trigger for my eating disorder, where trying to keep my weight lower in turn keeps my chest smaller, and removing this trigger would obviously be of benefit to my potential for eating disorder recovery.

For my physical and mental wellbeing, top surgery feels urgent and absolutely necessary, but given my personal financial circumstances, it also feels so far out of reach, and I am getting desperate. I'm still waiting for a consultation, but from my research, Top Surgery costs vary in Australia based on a variety of factors including surgeon and type of surgery, and access to private health insurance, and very little is covered by Medicare. There are also the costs of pre-surgery appointments with a psychologist, of surgery consultations and for after-care, and supportive items for post-surgery where movement and activity is heavily limited during recovery. As I live alone, I will need to enlist additional support during this time and obtain supportive items to help with things showering, toileting, dressing, meal preparation etc.

I am also setting up a way to sell some of my digital art on products online as a way to raise some of these funds, so this could be an alternative option to provide support instead of an outright donation if you'd be interested in some of my drawings on a shirt or a sticker etc.

Asking for help is a big deal for anyone, but unfortunately top surgery is still so inaccessible for a lot of us who need it, so if you are still reading, I hope you know how much I appreciate you even being here on this page, and if you are able to contribute, know that you will be playing a part in making such a huge impact on my life for the better. Thank you, so much.

Reilly.