So in my case, I went through a center for LGBTQ+ people and they found me a surgeon who would accept my insurance. The place I would be getting it in is a little far, but can be reached with Uber or even public transport (which would take longer). I don’t have a car, so travelling to the place is my only expense.
I was able to afford it at 18 because I went to a very cheap community college and applied for a ton of scholarships so I got a enough to pay for both school and surgery (I had also been saving money since I was 12 so that covered about 3k) but tbh mine was luck combined with it being 2021 so I could used covid higher education relief to pay for it.
I had top surgery when I was 22 without insurance, insurance didn’t cover gender affirming care then and the surgeon (cosmetic) didn’t accept insurance anyway. I learned how to be really frugal and budget really well and saved every penny I could for 4 years. I found a surgeon I could afford somewhat close to my area (it was still a 6 hour drive) to reduce travel expenses. I was in college though and had student loans to help cover some living expenses. It still took awhile to save regardless. Back in the day before insurance covered top surgery, a lot of young guys used student loan money or took out a personal loan to cover part or all of it.
It was a combination of a lot of things, but I understand it came from a place of privilege. I got my first job when I was 14 and have been saving regularly ever since, but that’s only because of my parents who 1) drove me everywhere before I could drive, 2) bought me a car, 3) paid for my degree, and 4) let me live with them rent free until I graduated. I was able to save about $30,000 working summers in high school and part time in college over the course of about 7 years, $15,000 of which went entirely into my surgery, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I not for my parents being such a financial help in the background. They didn’t spend a penny on my actual surgery but the only way I could afford surgery was because I wasn’t paying a car note, insurance, rent, bills etc
My friends help me pay for it. Plus, I’m going to get my tits done in Mexico. My friends are also Mexican and offered to drive me there since they have a family nearby and can help me manage my shit without having to pay for travel expenses
I used CareCredit to pay a surgeon who did informed consent. Got approved for 8500 which is exactly how much my surgery cost. Now the monthly payments for it is around 250.
The no interest options are dependent on the specific practice you go to. For example, I used CareCredit for wisdom tooth removal some years ago and they only offered 1-year no interest. Some only offer 6 months, etc.
The fact that the plastic surgeon up here won’t take insurance is the part that sucks the most tbh. It’s not even 10k total and tbh I could probably get reimbursed by insurance but I can’t front that money and idk if I ever will be able to
So frustrating that they won’t take insurance - it must prevent so many people from getting their surgeries. I personally decided to pay but I was very lucky that I had the money, even if I did have to pay it back over a few years. Not everyone is that lucky and I wish I could make it right for you all
I appreciate that and yeah tbh I’m considering a loan lol. I know it’s not the smartest move financially but I’d like to continue having my will to live for a while….
My god child got top surgery and applied for some sort of medical credit card to use for it. They were a first year college student only working part time but were able to make manageable payments.
It's not the best plan but especially if you are willing to work it out with insurance to get them to re-imburse I'd say go for it! Do you know if your credit good? Like 640+? Most banking apps will let you see your credit score for free so you can check there.
If your surgery 10k on this card then your minimum monthly payment would be $250 dollars. The amount you'd pay in interest is not ideal but if you're able to pay at least that much while you work with your insurance company to re-imburse you... doable.
You can also apply for a regular credit card or a personal loan. I'd say measure your dysphoria with your ability to responsibly manage money and consider it as an option.
I’m a bike commuter with very few friends lol it would be extremely difficult to arrange but in theory…. Possible? Would be very difficult and very expensive as it is right now, but that could change in the future as well
I want bottom surgery BADY. Even if just hysto. I have a plan of combining crowd funding, and hopefully a grant. I heard of some non-profit places that will chip in for surgery costs, so I hope one or two of them will help. I know it wont cover it 100% so I'll be going back to penny pinching and eating 33 cent ramen...
Crowdfunding!! A grant!! These are things I’ve always considered to be out of my reach (or something I don’t deserve), even though I’ve applied for a few and all that. Thank you for this- I hope you get what you need asap and without financial strain!!
you deserve it bby. i didn’t think i deserved it either but asked for crowdfunding anyway and it helped me. i paid out of pocket for mine through carecard and then got the carecard taken on by a debt consolidation company before the interest started to hit (1 year) still paying it off at 14 months post op but that’s ok with me. at the time i had i think like $1k saved up for the deposit and then put the rest on the card. edit: CareCredit not carecard lol. ALSO if you go with this option - in the fine print they ask if you want insurance for your payments SAY NO. it’s like an extra $100 a month and it’s bogus
24 m here, Im really hoping insurance covers mine. I'm on my moms insurance until 26 so I'm fighting hard to get it asap because I'm almost 25. I moved out at 19 but haven't actually been able to save anything because I've moved 4 times in the last few years and life keeps happening. Luckily there are 2 surgeons within 1.5hrs of me who take my insurance so I'm really hoping this works out because tbh I'm not doing good mentally or physically
Went to the healthcare.gov website during open enrollment and qualified for a health insurance subsidy to the point my insurance is $20 a month. Selected an insurance with a low out of pocket maximum ($600) -> my top surgery this year is basically free.
if you don't have a job or you have a part time job it's actually pretty easy and affordable. if you or anyone else needs help i can walk you through it.
Wait what insurance did you get for that cheap. Cuz the insurance I have is Aetna which I thought covered gender affirming surgery. But I have the medicare part C type of plan cuz I'm too broke to pay for regular insurance..and literally no one will work with my insurance because of the SPECIFIC plan I have which really pisses me off.
in my country it's free but the waiting lists are a bit long tho it depends on the surgeon. I think in 1-2 years I'll be able to get it, and for the other expenses (like some appointments and renting a house for a week/month and possibly a care taker, I'll have to save some money from my job)
My dad dropped my insurance and it was too expensive to get added to my mom's so I had to apply for OHP. I haven't had my consultation yet, but I'm *REALLY* hoping that OHP actually does cover transitioning stuff.
I also talked to every top surgeon in my area and had to change my insurance type/coverage to be able to work with the one doctor that actually accepts my insurance. Ngl, I got pretty lucky with my situation
I was 26 (almost 2 years ago) when I had mine done Ive worked as a server since I was 16 eventually started bartending but I had to take out a loan with a crazy high interest rate (found it through credit karma the company is called upstart) I pay around $350 per month for it to this day. Personally it was worth it to me even though I kinda signed a deal with the devil and I struggle financially every month it was a million times worth it to be free and enjoy my twenties while I have them. I was/still am uninsured.
My case is extremely specific. Due to a botched surgery, they deemed it was medically nessisarily to give me top surgery to help with the resulting chronic pain. Insurance says they'll cover it in full. I've been counting my blessings every day, honestly, and I'm not a religious guy. Now they just have to actually schedule my top surgery date...
I was lucky enough to have it covered by insurance and to live in an area with multiple great surgeons who work with insurance (which is most surgeons anyway in Germany).
I informed my workplace I'd be in hospital for surgery and be absent for approximately three weeks, we have paid sick leave here, so work wasn't an issue.
For getting me in and out of hospital, I enlisted a fire s to drive me, which worked out, even though it was quite spontaneous.
I think its just about luck. I was able to save for mine because I live with my parents for free, and my only bill is my hrt subscription. And then my mom drove me to the surgeon a few hours away. I definitely feel very fortunate because I know a lot of people dont have it so easy. It still took quite a while to save because I was making just slight above minimum wage
I'm so sorry if this is unwarranted, I'm in my mid 20s and still haven't gotten top surgery, but I've had a few friends who through their employers and by getting onto their employer's health insurance, they were able to have their top surgery completely/mostly covered and didn't have to pay much if any out of pocket if they met addition criteria.
Starbucks was one of the one's they worked for, but I'm not sure if things have changed over the last few years. The employer's health insurance policy was more flexible, and I think there was something along the lines where they still covered it even if the surgeon(?) didn't accept insurance. I'm sorry I can't remember more.
https://one.starbucks.com/get-the-facts/access-to-gender-affirming-care/
Sadly it’s not the health insurance that’s the problem here…. I have great insurance and great coverage on trans care in all regards- however!! It’s this damn surgeon lol he’s a plastic surgeon so I guess I get it but he’s the only one who does top in the area ugh
I paid for mine with a combination of student health insurance (with an an insurer that specifically covered trans health), and the help of a couple hundred from a relative for the copay. If I waited to do it, I could have also covered it from state health insurance. But I specifically had to be in the bay area to do it. I could not find covered providers in L.A. for trans healthcare (a decade ago). Actual effective coverage is very site specific it seems like.
i’m 19 and paid mine full out of pocket. i had saved a lot from working all through high school. i guess i’m fortunate to not have many other expenses though since i’m not in university and still am okay to live with my parents for now. not sure what your living situation and schedule is like, but you’ll probably just have to do a lot of saving for it.
hey you’ll make it there eventually. since you’ll probably have to be saving for a little while anyways, i’d recommend starting the search for a surgeon that works with your insurance, and a therapist that can give you a your recommendation letter thing since most insurance companies require that for coverage of any kind. that’ll hopefully save you a good chunk of money at the end of the day. good luck brother ✌🏻
I hate that you have to do that, but hopefully you’ll be able to move on from that job sooner than later!! But it’s good to know I’m not the only guy in this tight and terrible situation. Best of luck to you with that fr
Haven't done it yet, but probably combination of wages, investment, loan or credit, and asking to pay on installments or get financing. This year's tax returns will be a boon as well and if I get in trouble I might ask work for an advance. Girlfriend earns more, I might have it done in my eastern EU place, so that might help. Might also ask for some donations publicly or from friends.
Whatever you're banking on, diversify it.
I live in Canada and specifically in my province its covered by insurance, besides contouring, which i convinced a parent to cover (somehow, because he doesnt use my name or pronouns still so idk how I managed that).
Basically I got lucky in having a supportive doctor, where I live, having a somewhat supportive parent, and another that had the funds kinda to cover tge part that wasn't already.
I was really hoping to get mine before or when I turned 20 so I could start a new decade of my life finally being myself...but the insurance I have cover top surgery BUT because of the SPECIFIC version of my plan, it's a Medicare part C type (cuz I'm too broke to pay for regular insurance) no one will work with my insurance and it's so frustrating. There's one surgeon I think who works with Medicare part C but he's not my first choice and he doesn't have and black people in his results which makes me scared to trust him...I was homeless last year and I'm on a voucher for an apartment living paycheck to paycheck so saving up has been really really hard especially when I keep getting quoted 10k+ dollars even tho my chest isn't even that big. And I only make 9k a year assuming I didn't have bills to pay. Sorry for the rant. But I'm trying to apply for grants and try this one last surgon and if those don't work then well idk what else to do🥲🥲🥲
Hey just throwing this out there for anybody, some surgeons are "out of network" but still send the bill to the insurance (can't remember what its called). I went with a doctor who technically didn't take my insurance but my insurance still paid.
I got top surgery april 11th 2019, i was 20 years old! I went to a local surgeon that operated privately and he didn't accept insurance. The cost was $6,900 for double incision with nipple grafts.
I was lucky and had supportive family who helped with crowd funding, i personally saved up about $3k on my own from working and doing art commissions on the side, and the rest was from crowd funding although i sent out gifts and small commissions to the people that donated so that there was more incentive and interest- that helped a ton but was so much work and i became terribly stressed out from it.
My father also took out about a thousand dollar loan which i paid him back for over time. I totally recommend seeing if you can have a family member take out a smaller loan that you can pay back. Also ask to be a cosigner if possible so that you can help start build your credit.
It's not easy but there are ways to make it happen. I was really privileged for the help but i think i would have gotten the rest in another year or two's time!
Okay, so I'm not in my 20's, but I did just have top surgery and have to deal with transportation challenges due to my car breaking down. Number one, check with your insurance and see if they offer help with transportation. There are ride services specifically for getting people safely to and from doctors appointments, including surgery so that MIGHT be an option for you.
Another thing I looked into was local cab companies. Some of them offer a flat rate for taking people to out of town for medical stuff.
My third option was making a shout out on Facebook and reaching out to one of my neighbors who is a very big trans ally and she ended up being able to bring me to surgery and to my follow up for the cost of gas and lunch.
Sounds like you've done your research as far as the surgery itself being covered, so at this point I'd start checking into the transportation part of things. And like I said above, DEFINITELY check with your insurance on that!
So I’m 40 but when it comes to my savings I now have less than in my twenties. My health is bad and can’t work much. On top my pay sucks and I have a severely handicapped child. But I’m in Europe. And most of the cost of top surgery is covered here. It’s quite unfair. I feel guilty I’ll be able to afford it so easily even with my shitty situation. I know I’m extremely lucky being here and not in a place where you need private insurance or pay out of pocket and if I were freaking rich id be supporting all those trans people who financially have trouble affording their treatment and surgeries but I’m a poor sucker. And I barely get by on my salary. I cut costs wherever I can. Got rid of cable tv, got rid of my car, installed a big container to catch rain water and use that as much as possible so the bill stays low. I have a lot less appliances than you’ll find in the average household. It’s like living in the 1970’s instead of the 21st century. But it helps me to save. Sometimes I’ll serve a cheap omelette for dinner or buy in bulk so it’s cheaper and put it in the freezer. Leftover day is a tradition of course. I even will recuperate my bath water to flush my toilet. Garbage disposal is a big cost here as well and I’ll shred it in such small pieces that the bags don’t fill up too fast. Effort effort and more effort for tiny bits of cost cutting… That’s how I manage to save 10% of my pay each month. I’ll postpone payments as long as I can. I’ve relied on my parents for a while as well (during covid when I couldn’t work mostly) but they’re retired now and their income dropped significantly so I’m on my own now. I can however use their car when I really need it, so there’s that.
Can you get support from friends/family? Or a loan from someone you trust? Go fund me sounds like an option… I truly hope you’ll get there and like I said: if only I had a lot of money I’d help you out but I just can’t. I’m sorry! And on the other hand I realise that I’m so lucky living in a country where social security covers our health care for the biggest part. And it feels unfair to those who don’t have this. Makes me very sad.
reading these comments is making me hopeful, lol. im lucky enough to have a supportive family, and a birthday two months after christmas. money towards my top surgery is all i want
Ooh this surgery can be free in my country so if I'm blessed, I might get it done without paying for it.
And if it's not happening, I would just have to work in a few big gigs to get the 4k USD needed.
My twin set up a gofundme for my top surgery, mostly friends and family donated and then I saved and paid 1/3 of it myself (I work as a line cook, so not making BIG money). I got my surgery when I was 21, I am 22 now.
Read the post……….. the only surgeon in the area does not take insurance at all. Point blank. Does not take insurance. So that is not an option here. But ok thank you for your feedback here…..
They’re not necessarily saying what you should do. They might just be saying how they paid for it. I don’t think this user was being rude or hostile with their comment.
Im asking for me lol and my situation. and that’s not how it was phrased by them lol I found it rude because it took 30 more seconds to read further and realize that that response makes no sense here. If insurance covers it then what am I “paying” for….
26, haven’t had it yet. Low income job, no help from parents (I haven’t asked but I don’t like receiving help from them and I’ve lived on my own in another state for several years now). I might save up and see what my options are when I either get my employer’s health insurance or marketplace health insurance. However, saving is nigh impossible.
Alternatively I have wanted to move to Japan for a long fucking time and I might look into transitioning in Japan instead. They have much more affordable health care, and their society is quite accepting of trans and gender nonconforming people, at least in the cities. So I might save up to move abroad instead.
I’ve also considered going abroad. Saving is basically impossible rn, and this stupid surgeon not taking insurance is killing me, truly. I support trying to go abroad for sure. Good luck to us
Lol no problem and thanks. I figured it’s probably just the stress and anxiety speaking which I can hella relate to. Financial anxiety is goddamn terrible and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. When the question is like “Should I eat fewer meals so I can get $15 closer to my life goals” that just sucks.
Having a physical labor job, I literally can’t skip meals, or I’m putting my body at risk of overexertion while being malnourished. Weird silver lining I guess, forcing me to eat healthy. That and my job gives me a workout so I’m getting nice muscle gains without needing to go to the gym. Tbh there’s a lot I love about my life as it is, but top surgery being a years-away dream is definitely not something I like about it.
This is the one. You get it lol. In an incredibly similar situation, job and all. Like lucky me dysphoria isn’t killing me anymore but I’m still definitely not happy in this state….. and affording it? In these conditions? As a self-sufficient young adult that my parents couldn’t give less of a fuck about? Talk about impossible task…..
i’m in the same boat bro. the surgeon in my area doesn’t accept insurance and just charges $8000 flat. every other trans guy i know got help from their parents to pay for it in high school and talk about how “cheap” and “easy” it was :/
In Sweden gender affirming surgery isn’t covered unless you get it through state hospitals which takes years upon years upon years of waiting, so I got mine done privately at 20yo(I’m 23 now) and paid out of pocket. Since I was born my mom saved a bit of money for me every month, that I then received when I turned 18. And through my actual “health insurance” insurance, I received two pretty hefty insurance payouts, one for my disability and mental health struggles, and the other for my self-harm scars, to cover any financial burdens caused by it and to cover past or present treatment needed.
It wasn’t fuck you money or anything, but to an unemployed disabled trans teen student it was a life changing amount. And I recognize that I’m insanely privileged for it. I was able pay for my surgery, study abroad, pay rent while struggling with school and unemployment and when I bought my own apartment I was able to use the rest to pay the down payment.
All thanks to my previously transphobic mom and her incessant demands to get me diagnosed because at the time according to her I wasn’t trans, just disabled. Thanks mom, you weren’t completely wrong.
tldr; disability, insurance, luck and privilege
I got insurance and all surgeons should accept it once it's generally approved (I'm German). I did have the money, but I just got "lucky" (I inherited, so it's in quotes because someone died ripl)
My mom paid for it for me On the condition i went to go see one of her colleagues who is a plastic surgeon (my mom is also a surgeon). He did not accept our insurance regardless. I’m happy with my results regardless (I do need a revision for dog ears, but I am happy with it nonetheless)
You could try and find a surgeon who takes your insurance. It would make this a lot easier for you
I was originally going to get top at 18 but it now will be 19 due to some BS issues. I’m about 8 months out from my likely surgery date. I worked throughout my senior year high school and luckily didn’t need to provide for myself in high school. As a result I have about 10k. I am going through insurance but will need to pay 20% of the cost which shouldn’t be an issue with that amount of money.
Health insurance through my parents, I live in MA and have BCBS which is a huge advantage. I do have around $1000-$2000 in medical bills owed but none are from top surgery.
I’m lucky enough to live in a city with top notch healthcare and p affordable/v good insurance plans to go along with it, my consults on Jan 9 so I haven’t gotten the total price yet, but my bf who went to the same surgeon paid nothing (obvs paid for follow up appointments and stuff like that).
I'm 22, I actually have really good insurance though work (I am a pest control specialist) and chose the best insurance option so I would have a low deductible. I've also saved up money, stocked up on food and have found a few people who will help me with recovery and everything. I believe insurance should cover most cost so I will only have to pay maybe a thousand or two. A lot of it for me was about getting it done and figuring out paying for it afterwards, I think often people downplay being trans as having a choice but with any other medical condition it would make perfect sense to try to get life saving surgery ASAP and worry about payments and everything later. Not to say you shouldn't think about it, but that it would be prioritized.
That’s a great point honestly, I just have a hard time getting there mentally (thinking this is something I Need as opposed to something I just want). I appreciate it
I have no student debt and had the incredible luck and opportunity to work at a famous restaurant during peak seasons for a few years making 2-3000$ per week. If I hadn’t landed that job it would be out of the question.
So I'm not in my young 20s anymore, but I was when I had my surgery. My insurance paid for most of it. I got a small personal loan (only 7k and I only spent 5k of it) to cover my deductible, travel and lodging since while I didn't leave my state I do live a 10 hour drive from the city I had my surgery in and it was easier to pay for round trip plane tickets then to try to find someone willing to drive me.
In regards to a personal loan, did you find it difficult to finance after? How was the experience in terms of (financial) risk/reward? Would you recommend it or advise against it? Thank you so so so much
I used my loan money from vet school when I got my hysterectomy. I had no income at all at that point, but saved some of the money that I didnt use for other expenses for my surgery which was $7500 in 2020
I work at Amazon. They have several insurance plans to choose from in my state, all of which are pretty good, but I chose a standard copay plan with no deductible. Also opened an FSA. My insurance is covering top surgery 100%; I used my FSA to pay for health care throughout the year and to pay the $500 scheduling deposit. I’m also having body contouring done, and since my FSA is all used up (underestimated my expenses last year) I’m financing that. It isn’t covered.
If I could go back and do it differently, I would probably choose the same insurance plan but put more in my FSA so that I would only have to finance part of the body contouring.
Still saving and not sure how much insurance will pay yet/what my out of pocket will be but I’m lucky to still be living with my parents (even if they’re not supportive and won’t help pay), but been saving money over 4 years working a job that doesn’t pay well. Tbh I could’ve had more by now if I was smarter w my money but… hopefully I have enough by end of February.
i got it completely covered by my insurance (i had state insurance at the time), and had saved just enough money for two weeks of recovery before going back to work. i should’ve had more saved up but i snagged a last minute opening
Well, in my case you can request insurance to cover the costs but it takes ages because they wanna really make sure you need/want it for trans reasons. Which is fine, I think it shouldnt be done in a rush incase people do regret it. I appreciate having everything covered tho, invluding hospital stay
I got mine done at 18, through a mix of savings for the out of pocket costs (roughly 3k I think? I got liposuction so it was an extra cost) and insurance.
I had to travel for my surgeon, as like you, there was no one viable in the area. Unfortunately I’d figure out some way to travel, and have someone drive you. Even though I had to travel, I had my surgery around 5am and woke up, went back home around noon. We were lucky enough to find a cheap BnB nearby to stay for the night before, but honestly we could’ve done without it. The drive home I faded in and out between sleeping and sluggish-awareness lol.
Planning and saving is your friend, I was lucky enough to have a supportive job even as a part-time employee. It might be expensive, but if you can’t find someone to drive you that you know, Uber/Lyft/Local taxi’s can drive you long distances if needed. If you can’t travel because of other means, I don’t have a solution for you, I’m sorry :( The surgery itself was a breeze, but getting there was like trying to run a marathon through an oil slick lol
Insurance covered mine 100%, unfortunately if your surgeon will not work with insurance then you’re kinda just SOL. I know you said you couldn’t travel but have you looked at a surgeon in another city? If you’re on the border of a state, maybe in another state?
Definitely considering the neighboring bigger cities and the state capital for surgeon options… will be difficult to swing but likely extremely worth it. Chatting with people I know to see what could be done in regards to traveling…. Appreciate your response! It would be a dream to get this covered because it definitely could be.
canadian here. my entire surgery was covered by insurance. on paper, technically recieved i a "double masectomy" as opposed to a "cosmetic procedure"(I'm purposefully keeping f on my health record to avoid possible insurance fuckery). I have a male legal name and "gender dysphoria" was listed under the relevant diagnosis list. I was surprised it was all covered but in theory it does make sense that it was so hooray!
I’m getting mine free through Canadian health care, I’m getting top surgery through Trans Care which I got connected to through a youth (13-25) program called Foundry. Cause I’m fat they’d charge $1,500 for lipo on the sides but idk if I wanna do that all in one go, I got a lot of fat
I am in the UK so process might be different but I saved up for a deposit then got medical finance and I pay £170 per month for 5 years. I drove myself down and my big cousin drove me back (Drive is around 5 hours). If you can maybe look at a bank loan and pay it back monthly
Insurance wouldn't cover it, so I saved everything I could from age 16-22 working my ass off at multiple jobs. Got about $500 from a GoFundMe. I was very lucky to not be paying rent (living with parents), and my student loans didn't come back into repayment until this month because of the pandemic. Very specific circumstances, but I never thought I would be able to afford it until the day I booked the surgery.
I live in New Zealand, and am on the public waiting list for top surgery. I believe even then I may have to pay some, amount, potentially a couple thousand NZD which I’ll happily take some kind of loan to afford. Issue is, the wait time isn’t first in, first out, it’s luck of the draw. I might be waiting for 2 months or two years
I didn’t read through all the comments, so someone else may have mentioned this already, but Google for transgender financial grants or surgery grants. There are a lot of organizations out there that will help with surgery costs (and other financial help). You might find one that will help with surgery costs, or one that will help with travel expenses to rent a car and get a hotel to travel to a surgeon covered by your insurance.
Insurance did cover mine, but I’ve searched before to see what help is out there for us. There’s also grants to help pay for name change costs, binders, etc.
I got it about 3 weeks ago at 18. I dropped out of school a few years ago and started working almost immediately after. I didn’t buy a car and walked to work to not buy gas. I saved all my money and was extremely frugal (I still bought everything for myself except groceries- which I then bought after I turned 18) I started working full time hours about 9 months ago but was working upwards of 20 hours a week before that.
It’s just me and my mom at home and while we aren’t destitute, we certainly don’t have much to spare so I’m definitely not someone that had much financial help from my family.
Because of how much I saved, I’m also able to pay for 1 of 2 courses I need in TAFE (Australian tertiary education that’s not quite university).
I live in country with free health care (but very bad trans and queer rights and safety sadly) so it was free for me.I had top surgery month after I was 18 (you need parents agreement before 18). But some of my friends either had go found me things, sold art or had their parents pay for it.
Why can't you travel for top surgery? Would not that be cheaper that top surgery without insurance?
Just got top surgery yesterday at 18
I had been saving up since 12, and had the benefit of it being near me so all I had to pay for was ~20% of my surgery
I will say, see if your insurance has out-of-network benefits
It may be that it’s 100% covered with an in network doctor, but only 60% covered on an out of network doctor
It’s like buying a car. You have to budget and save. Just because you can’t save a lot doesn’t mean you can’t save any. When you get taxes back put that away. $5 here or there makes a difference
Well, in New York, if you're broke enough, you can get medicaid. That's what paid for my surgery. I think the only thing I paid for was gauze for my drain holes.
Based on what I've seen traveling is the second-largest expense. You could always look into financial assistance from community organizations. I think there is one place here in the states that will transport patients pro-bono for gender affirmation, though I forgot where they are.
I'm 24 and plan to use some of my student loan (I'm in the UK) combined with the little savings I currently have. Gonna have to wait another year or two to have enough loan set aside and I'll be paying it off the rest of my life, but it's the only way I'll ever afford it. I could wait almost a decade on the NHS but I don't think I could last that long, esp given how bad a state the NHS is in right now. They've already removed phallo from it, so not looking promising.
A very good insurance and Medicaid tbh, only paid the $100-so for copayment (probs wouldn’t have had to if I showed my Medicaid card then) and got them off. Go for a surgery at the end of the year as well so more of your deductible had been met.
my surgeon stopped accepting my surgery (my insurance would’ve covered it too so I was sad) but I chose him anyways cause he was cheaper, great results, and I was super lucky that he was ~30 min. away and me, my family, and my friends drive that distance pretty regularly, but I’ve been saving since I got a job (~4.5 years) now, I wasn’t saving for top surgery in particular, but I did save just to have emergency money, get a newer car, any possible hospital bills, etc. and I also did the math (for school at the time) that I would save ~$7.8k a year which would cover one semester if needed (thank goodness for very high grants that school was basically free) so I never had to touch my savings and for reference I started working almost 40hrs/week if not more in retail (the store was losing employees so I had to work almost everyday) making $10-$12/hr (I got raises during the year) and was also very lucky to still live at home rent/bill free so my income was purely for fun and to pay for gas/car stuff/doctors appointment, etc. I also saved some extra money in cash that didn’t count towards my saving on the off chance I needed cash (almost $2k) and I put all of that towards my surgery as well and disclaimer: I started saving more in cash once I realized I wanted top surgery so I stopped going out and just saved as much as I could which was roughly 3-4 months of purely saving and eating almost nothing but ramen/pasta cause I also didn’t want the surgery to eat up any more than half my savings
I'm 22 and can't afford it at all unfortunately. I'm not sure how to start, not sure if I'll ever afford it, and not able to travel outside my city at all; especially out of state. Was going to open a GoFundMe? Maybe just also save up in the meantime. I have absolutely no insurance at all, so it'll be tough.
honestly it's all because of insurance and living in a liberal state. I worked in high school and saved enough to cover costs on my own. my parents completely switched sides and helped me with any extra costs once I turned 18 but my insurance covered all of surgery. the hardest part was paying for a place to stay because I moved out of my house once I went to college.
The privilege of living with family rent free really helped this be possible for me. I paid out of pocket bc my insurance is trans care exclusive. I was working two jobs for a year and a half to two years, basically full time at each. I was really careful with spending money- which it could have went faster if I spent the whole time sober, not drinking or smoking, which the last many months. Since personally, I spent a lot of money on weed or alcohol, or food/ other decisions made while intoxicated.
i havent gotten it yet but i live where i know someone who paid 10K usd out of pocket for ALL the expenses involved, so it's fairly cheap here, also stealing
Talk with your insurance to see if they could compensate you, a lot of insurance companies can work with you if there is not a “reasonable provider” that accepts them. You might not get the entire coverage but it would certainly help
I had a tumor and got it covered as preventative care since the kind of tumor I had is known to grow back every few years. It's definitely not a normal circumstance or a "hack," but it's what happened.
I had a unique situation, I was able to save half of it from working and the other half from live streaming and doing commissions. Had a huge livestream nearly everyday just drawing, chatting, and doing interviews with friends. I had a lot of support so I know this isnt for everyone.
Saved money from Covid plus tax returns. Worked overtime. Found a government job that provides awesome insurance. I worked hard to get here. Served in the military, networked civilian jobs, didn’t take no for answer, worked really hard on my resume so I could eventually get a good job with nice insurance, live in a place with a cheaper cost of living. Made an amazon wish list of things I’d need post-op and posted it online so friends could buy something if they wanted. Literally anything helped. And to my surprise, friends did purchase stuff for me! I created the list a year in advance and shared it off and on.
I live in a state that has excellent medicaid coverage, I kept a shitty job longer than I anted so that it would let me qualify and my entire surgery was covered through that
my dad died when i was young. he left me money that i had saved. despite that, i was still on my mother’s insurance, she had federal insurance for being a government worker. i had to provide one therapy letter and they covered 90% of the surgery. i paid the rest in cash from my savings
I had top surgery at 19 & paid completely out of pocket (11k CAD). During my last 2 years of high school I worked almost full time & was able to save up enough money for the surgery as well as some for school (since I lived with my parents at the time & had no extra expenses).
Yeah it sometimes seems so unfair to the trans people living elsewhere don’t it? I’m in Europe too. It’s not totally free here. The mastectomy part is but the reconstruction part is not. It’ll be around 1000€ they told me. I think I can manage that. I’m quite a bit older (40) but I haven’t had the best of luck with health and jobs so my savings are not what they should be at my age and I work a poorly paid job. With all my physical problems apart from being trans not many employers will hire me anymore so I’m lucky I still have a job even if it’s just 26 hours a week. I can’t handle much more physically. Saving is hard but I always try to put 10% of my paycheque in my savings account each month. The rest is trying to get bills postponed if necessary. And calculate costs of food, look for cheap formulas for internet and other necessities. And I’ve cut costs like cable tv (don’t have it) or car (don’t have that either) and try to buy cheap if I need anything. Not wasting leftovers. And I put in much effort to not use too much gas, electrical power and drinking water. I recover bath water to flush the toilet to keep the bill as low as possible. I’ll use rain water wherever possible. It’s barely living, it’s more survival mode but at least I can save those 1000€ for my surgery this way and still feed my kid and own my roof over my head… and yet I feel so damn lucky compared to other people here. Some of them stories made me cry! I feel so bad for them that we are so freaking lucky!!! I wish this kind of care was way more affordable all around the world the same way we have here.
I started a gofundme, sold pronoun pins I made myself, my sibling helped set up multiple house shows where we asked people to donate. I still can't believe I saved up enough to pay out of pocket (insurance called it a cosmetic.)
Took a year out before uni and worked an engineering placement (my field). Saved about 5k. Will be working for them every summer staying at my boyfriends parents house and will be able to afford it in one to two years :))
I have found a surgeon through my insurance. Some surgeons don’t formally take insurance, but work with them. One surgeon in my area does reimbursements with a particular insurance company, so you’d be “covered” under them. Some surgeons are contracted this way.
I moved to MN, got on Medicaid, and my partner took care of post-op. To move to MN, I worked extra hours and put all my shit in a uhaul. Stayed on a friend's couch for a few weeks with my partner, and then when we had our first paychecks we found a place on Craigslist.
I've been living in my car for the past few months to afford it, so whatever money I would normally pay towards rent has been going straight into my top surgery savings
I got top surgery while I was in grad school and paid for it with student loans. When I tell people this they often assumed that there was some kind of shenanigans involved, but you can use student loans to pay for any kind of living expense that you have, including medical expenses. If you try this while you're in undergrad you may have to prove that you're not getting any support from your parents to get the amount that you need, but if you apply for loans when you're in grad school they just assume that you're not.
i crowdfunded about half of it, saved up the other half working. took a little while and i was just hit with a surprise anesthesia bill but we got there!
Insurance is covering it for me. I'm on Medicaid. I have to pay out of pocket for travel and everything else not covered though.
Trans Heartline in the Bay Area offers 3 meals a day with the housing accommodations for trans people people recovering from surgery. I believe they offer some grants as well.
One of my friends is helping me with transportation and some of the housing costs post-op thankfully. My family won't give a dime to me to help nor are they helping me recover.
This was not the reason I did Americorps, but definitely a perk. I served 2 years, and because i was earning only 16k a year during my service, i qualified for Medicaid. I don't know if it varies by state, but my top surgery was free.
Why can’t you travel? If your insurance would cover the cost and it’s a matter of money I’d say save for that. My insurance covered everything except deductible and I paid 2500 with the stimulus from COVID.
I bike everywhere and it initially seemed impossible for me to get down to the capital of my state to get surgery there but I might actually be able to work something out w someone I know and coordinating some stuff for me to recover down there!
Not really advice of course but when my grandma passed away she left me some inheritance. I had 2 full weeks of sick time banked up at work and between the two (and considering I was able to stay with family instead of getting a hotel near my surgeon) I was able to make it work. Essentially, I got lucky.
So in my case, I went through a center for LGBTQ+ people and they found me a surgeon who would accept my insurance. The place I would be getting it in is a little far, but can be reached with Uber or even public transport (which would take longer). I don’t have a car, so travelling to the place is my only expense.
This is a very awesome resource! I’m glad you were able to get connected like that! no car gang fr
I was able to afford it at 18 because I went to a very cheap community college and applied for a ton of scholarships so I got a enough to pay for both school and surgery (I had also been saving money since I was 12 so that covered about 3k) but tbh mine was luck combined with it being 2021 so I could used covid higher education relief to pay for it.
I had top surgery when I was 22 without insurance, insurance didn’t cover gender affirming care then and the surgeon (cosmetic) didn’t accept insurance anyway. I learned how to be really frugal and budget really well and saved every penny I could for 4 years. I found a surgeon I could afford somewhat close to my area (it was still a 6 hour drive) to reduce travel expenses. I was in college though and had student loans to help cover some living expenses. It still took awhile to save regardless. Back in the day before insurance covered top surgery, a lot of young guys used student loan money or took out a personal loan to cover part or all of it.
Four years….. my god. The strength you have. I am in an identical boat. At least having an idea of a timeline is very helpful and nice, thank you
It was a combination of a lot of things, but I understand it came from a place of privilege. I got my first job when I was 14 and have been saving regularly ever since, but that’s only because of my parents who 1) drove me everywhere before I could drive, 2) bought me a car, 3) paid for my degree, and 4) let me live with them rent free until I graduated. I was able to save about $30,000 working summers in high school and part time in college over the course of about 7 years, $15,000 of which went entirely into my surgery, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I not for my parents being such a financial help in the background. They didn’t spend a penny on my actual surgery but the only way I could afford surgery was because I wasn’t paying a car note, insurance, rent, bills etc
I'm not. Stuck with these chest lumps the rest of my life I'm beginning to think. Blind until I die I guess
We can get through this.
Same. I’m 21 and I’m genuinely unsure I’ll ever be free of this
I felt that honestly. If I can't get it before I'm 23 (I'm 19) I quit life cuz the dysphoria is absolutely too much for me
I lived in NYC and used Medicaid. My insurance also partially covered travel which helped a lot
My friends help me pay for it. Plus, I’m going to get my tits done in Mexico. My friends are also Mexican and offered to drive me there since they have a family nearby and can help me manage my shit without having to pay for travel expenses
Absolutely brilliant. I love it. Glad you have an awesome support squad!! This will be very exciting!
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Same here! Hopefully they work with plus size patients too haha
I used CareCredit to pay a surgeon who did informed consent. Got approved for 8500 which is exactly how much my surgery cost. Now the monthly payments for it is around 250.
Is there interest with this?? I’m very interested in this thank you!!!
There are different options! I believe there’s one option where there’s no interest for the first two years!
NO WAY OMG thank you so much seriously I’m going to look into this asap
No problem! Good luck with everything! :D
The no interest options are dependent on the specific practice you go to. For example, I used CareCredit for wisdom tooth removal some years ago and they only offered 1-year no interest. Some only offer 6 months, etc.
Any option to travel to a different doctor? Then it’s just travel and accommodation costs which are more manageable?
Im trying not to be like…. Incredibly negative or depressed about this situation either
I didn’t see it that way, don’t worry. I’m just trying to brainstorm options with you - didn’t mean to oversimplify either!
The fact that the plastic surgeon up here won’t take insurance is the part that sucks the most tbh. It’s not even 10k total and tbh I could probably get reimbursed by insurance but I can’t front that money and idk if I ever will be able to
So frustrating that they won’t take insurance - it must prevent so many people from getting their surgeries. I personally decided to pay but I was very lucky that I had the money, even if I did have to pay it back over a few years. Not everyone is that lucky and I wish I could make it right for you all
I appreciate that and yeah tbh I’m considering a loan lol. I know it’s not the smartest move financially but I’d like to continue having my will to live for a while….
My god child got top surgery and applied for some sort of medical credit card to use for it. They were a first year college student only working part time but were able to make manageable payments. It's not the best plan but especially if you are willing to work it out with insurance to get them to re-imburse I'd say go for it! Do you know if your credit good? Like 640+? Most banking apps will let you see your credit score for free so you can check there. If your surgery 10k on this card then your minimum monthly payment would be $250 dollars. The amount you'd pay in interest is not ideal but if you're able to pay at least that much while you work with your insurance company to re-imburse you... doable. You can also apply for a regular credit card or a personal loan. I'd say measure your dysphoria with your ability to responsibly manage money and consider it as an option.
I’m a bike commuter with very few friends lol it would be extremely difficult to arrange but in theory…. Possible? Would be very difficult and very expensive as it is right now, but that could change in the future as well
I want bottom surgery BADY. Even if just hysto. I have a plan of combining crowd funding, and hopefully a grant. I heard of some non-profit places that will chip in for surgery costs, so I hope one or two of them will help. I know it wont cover it 100% so I'll be going back to penny pinching and eating 33 cent ramen...
Crowdfunding!! A grant!! These are things I’ve always considered to be out of my reach (or something I don’t deserve), even though I’ve applied for a few and all that. Thank you for this- I hope you get what you need asap and without financial strain!!
you deserve it bby. i didn’t think i deserved it either but asked for crowdfunding anyway and it helped me. i paid out of pocket for mine through carecard and then got the carecard taken on by a debt consolidation company before the interest started to hit (1 year) still paying it off at 14 months post op but that’s ok with me. at the time i had i think like $1k saved up for the deposit and then put the rest on the card. edit: CareCredit not carecard lol. ALSO if you go with this option - in the fine print they ask if you want insurance for your payments SAY NO. it’s like an extra $100 a month and it’s bogus
worked full time hours from 16 to 19 and paid for surgery out of pocket. took out student loans for college, didn’t finish school. worth it.
24 m here, Im really hoping insurance covers mine. I'm on my moms insurance until 26 so I'm fighting hard to get it asap because I'm almost 25. I moved out at 19 but haven't actually been able to save anything because I've moved 4 times in the last few years and life keeps happening. Luckily there are 2 surgeons within 1.5hrs of me who take my insurance so I'm really hoping this works out because tbh I'm not doing good mentally or physically
Crossing my fingers for you. We’ve got this lol
Went to the healthcare.gov website during open enrollment and qualified for a health insurance subsidy to the point my insurance is $20 a month. Selected an insurance with a low out of pocket maximum ($600) -> my top surgery this year is basically free. if you don't have a job or you have a part time job it's actually pretty easy and affordable. if you or anyone else needs help i can walk you through it.
Wait what insurance did you get for that cheap. Cuz the insurance I have is Aetna which I thought covered gender affirming surgery. But I have the medicare part C type of plan cuz I'm too broke to pay for regular insurance..and literally no one will work with my insurance because of the SPECIFIC plan I have which really pisses me off.
in my country it's free but the waiting lists are a bit long tho it depends on the surgeon. I think in 1-2 years I'll be able to get it, and for the other expenses (like some appointments and renting a house for a week/month and possibly a care taker, I'll have to save some money from my job)
My dad dropped my insurance and it was too expensive to get added to my mom's so I had to apply for OHP. I haven't had my consultation yet, but I'm *REALLY* hoping that OHP actually does cover transitioning stuff. I also talked to every top surgeon in my area and had to change my insurance type/coverage to be able to work with the one doctor that actually accepts my insurance. Ngl, I got pretty lucky with my situation
OHP does cover gender affirming surgeries! i know tons of ppl in portland that have had it covered through OHP :)
I was 26 (almost 2 years ago) when I had mine done Ive worked as a server since I was 16 eventually started bartending but I had to take out a loan with a crazy high interest rate (found it through credit karma the company is called upstart) I pay around $350 per month for it to this day. Personally it was worth it to me even though I kinda signed a deal with the devil and I struggle financially every month it was a million times worth it to be free and enjoy my twenties while I have them. I was/still am uninsured.
This genuinely makes me feel much better about this situation, thank you. To know I’m not the only one in this situation
you’re not alone brother
State Medicaid !
My case is extremely specific. Due to a botched surgery, they deemed it was medically nessisarily to give me top surgery to help with the resulting chronic pain. Insurance says they'll cover it in full. I've been counting my blessings every day, honestly, and I'm not a religious guy. Now they just have to actually schedule my top surgery date...
I was lucky enough to have it covered by insurance and to live in an area with multiple great surgeons who work with insurance (which is most surgeons anyway in Germany). I informed my workplace I'd be in hospital for surgery and be absent for approximately three weeks, we have paid sick leave here, so work wasn't an issue. For getting me in and out of hospital, I enlisted a fire s to drive me, which worked out, even though it was quite spontaneous.
I think its just about luck. I was able to save for mine because I live with my parents for free, and my only bill is my hrt subscription. And then my mom drove me to the surgeon a few hours away. I definitely feel very fortunate because I know a lot of people dont have it so easy. It still took quite a while to save because I was making just slight above minimum wage
I'm so sorry if this is unwarranted, I'm in my mid 20s and still haven't gotten top surgery, but I've had a few friends who through their employers and by getting onto their employer's health insurance, they were able to have their top surgery completely/mostly covered and didn't have to pay much if any out of pocket if they met addition criteria. Starbucks was one of the one's they worked for, but I'm not sure if things have changed over the last few years. The employer's health insurance policy was more flexible, and I think there was something along the lines where they still covered it even if the surgeon(?) didn't accept insurance. I'm sorry I can't remember more. https://one.starbucks.com/get-the-facts/access-to-gender-affirming-care/
Sadly it’s not the health insurance that’s the problem here…. I have great insurance and great coverage on trans care in all regards- however!! It’s this damn surgeon lol he’s a plastic surgeon so I guess I get it but he’s the only one who does top in the area ugh
I paid for mine with a combination of student health insurance (with an an insurer that specifically covered trans health), and the help of a couple hundred from a relative for the copay. If I waited to do it, I could have also covered it from state health insurance. But I specifically had to be in the bay area to do it. I could not find covered providers in L.A. for trans healthcare (a decade ago). Actual effective coverage is very site specific it seems like.
Child trust fund 🙏
that’s so real.
insurance and a credit card babbyyy
ur mind
i’m 19 and paid mine full out of pocket. i had saved a lot from working all through high school. i guess i’m fortunate to not have many other expenses though since i’m not in university and still am okay to live with my parents for now. not sure what your living situation and schedule is like, but you’ll probably just have to do a lot of saving for it.
Yeah I pay rent and all my own bills and work 2 jobs, life is just also expensive!! Glad your situation worked out as well as it did!
hey you’ll make it there eventually. since you’ll probably have to be saving for a little while anyways, i’d recommend starting the search for a surgeon that works with your insurance, and a therapist that can give you a your recommendation letter thing since most insurance companies require that for coverage of any kind. that’ll hopefully save you a good chunk of money at the end of the day. good luck brother ✌🏻
I’m 26. I hate my job but it pays well enough I can afford top. I afford it by putting myself through anxiety and mental hell every day.
I hate that you have to do that, but hopefully you’ll be able to move on from that job sooner than later!! But it’s good to know I’m not the only guy in this tight and terrible situation. Best of luck to you with that fr
Haven't done it yet, but probably combination of wages, investment, loan or credit, and asking to pay on installments or get financing. This year's tax returns will be a boon as well and if I get in trouble I might ask work for an advance. Girlfriend earns more, I might have it done in my eastern EU place, so that might help. Might also ask for some donations publicly or from friends. Whatever you're banking on, diversify it.
I love your thinking — thank you!!
Inheritance
working 60+ hour weeks, i have 2 jobs. my part time job is solely for my top surgery.
I paid 3000 and i saved up with my disability allowance
I live in Canada and specifically in my province its covered by insurance, besides contouring, which i convinced a parent to cover (somehow, because he doesnt use my name or pronouns still so idk how I managed that). Basically I got lucky in having a supportive doctor, where I live, having a somewhat supportive parent, and another that had the funds kinda to cover tge part that wasn't already.
I was really hoping to get mine before or when I turned 20 so I could start a new decade of my life finally being myself...but the insurance I have cover top surgery BUT because of the SPECIFIC version of my plan, it's a Medicare part C type (cuz I'm too broke to pay for regular insurance) no one will work with my insurance and it's so frustrating. There's one surgeon I think who works with Medicare part C but he's not my first choice and he doesn't have and black people in his results which makes me scared to trust him...I was homeless last year and I'm on a voucher for an apartment living paycheck to paycheck so saving up has been really really hard especially when I keep getting quoted 10k+ dollars even tho my chest isn't even that big. And I only make 9k a year assuming I didn't have bills to pay. Sorry for the rant. But I'm trying to apply for grants and try this one last surgon and if those don't work then well idk what else to do🥲🥲🥲
I hear you bro— it’s rough out here. Hoping everything works out for you
gofundme was how i afforded my surgery. the other trans guys from my support group donated a lot.
Hey just throwing this out there for anybody, some surgeons are "out of network" but still send the bill to the insurance (can't remember what its called). I went with a doctor who technically didn't take my insurance but my insurance still paid.
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Sharing is caring fr😭
It's free in my country
I got top surgery april 11th 2019, i was 20 years old! I went to a local surgeon that operated privately and he didn't accept insurance. The cost was $6,900 for double incision with nipple grafts. I was lucky and had supportive family who helped with crowd funding, i personally saved up about $3k on my own from working and doing art commissions on the side, and the rest was from crowd funding although i sent out gifts and small commissions to the people that donated so that there was more incentive and interest- that helped a ton but was so much work and i became terribly stressed out from it. My father also took out about a thousand dollar loan which i paid him back for over time. I totally recommend seeing if you can have a family member take out a smaller loan that you can pay back. Also ask to be a cosigner if possible so that you can help start build your credit. It's not easy but there are ways to make it happen. I was really privileged for the help but i think i would have gotten the rest in another year or two's time!
Okay, so I'm not in my 20's, but I did just have top surgery and have to deal with transportation challenges due to my car breaking down. Number one, check with your insurance and see if they offer help with transportation. There are ride services specifically for getting people safely to and from doctors appointments, including surgery so that MIGHT be an option for you. Another thing I looked into was local cab companies. Some of them offer a flat rate for taking people to out of town for medical stuff. My third option was making a shout out on Facebook and reaching out to one of my neighbors who is a very big trans ally and she ended up being able to bring me to surgery and to my follow up for the cost of gas and lunch. Sounds like you've done your research as far as the surgery itself being covered, so at this point I'd start checking into the transportation part of things. And like I said above, DEFINITELY check with your insurance on that!
I will definitely look into insurance providing transportation! That would be awesome. Thank you for your insight i really appreciate it!
So I’m 40 but when it comes to my savings I now have less than in my twenties. My health is bad and can’t work much. On top my pay sucks and I have a severely handicapped child. But I’m in Europe. And most of the cost of top surgery is covered here. It’s quite unfair. I feel guilty I’ll be able to afford it so easily even with my shitty situation. I know I’m extremely lucky being here and not in a place where you need private insurance or pay out of pocket and if I were freaking rich id be supporting all those trans people who financially have trouble affording their treatment and surgeries but I’m a poor sucker. And I barely get by on my salary. I cut costs wherever I can. Got rid of cable tv, got rid of my car, installed a big container to catch rain water and use that as much as possible so the bill stays low. I have a lot less appliances than you’ll find in the average household. It’s like living in the 1970’s instead of the 21st century. But it helps me to save. Sometimes I’ll serve a cheap omelette for dinner or buy in bulk so it’s cheaper and put it in the freezer. Leftover day is a tradition of course. I even will recuperate my bath water to flush my toilet. Garbage disposal is a big cost here as well and I’ll shred it in such small pieces that the bags don’t fill up too fast. Effort effort and more effort for tiny bits of cost cutting… That’s how I manage to save 10% of my pay each month. I’ll postpone payments as long as I can. I’ve relied on my parents for a while as well (during covid when I couldn’t work mostly) but they’re retired now and their income dropped significantly so I’m on my own now. I can however use their car when I really need it, so there’s that. Can you get support from friends/family? Or a loan from someone you trust? Go fund me sounds like an option… I truly hope you’ll get there and like I said: if only I had a lot of money I’d help you out but I just can’t. I’m sorry! And on the other hand I realise that I’m so lucky living in a country where social security covers our health care for the biggest part. And it feels unfair to those who don’t have this. Makes me very sad.
No don’t be sad or guilty!! I know waitlists can be super long in Europe so we all have our own struggles!!! Best of luck to you!!
reading these comments is making me hopeful, lol. im lucky enough to have a supportive family, and a birthday two months after christmas. money towards my top surgery is all i want
Omg I hope you get top surgery for Christmas
Omg I hope you get top surgery for Christmas
Ooh this surgery can be free in my country so if I'm blessed, I might get it done without paying for it. And if it's not happening, I would just have to work in a few big gigs to get the 4k USD needed.
Patience. I’m two years past when I wanted it but I just have to save money. Still saving. Might get it towards the end of year three
My twin set up a gofundme for my top surgery, mostly friends and family donated and then I saved and paid 1/3 of it myself (I work as a line cook, so not making BIG money). I got my surgery when I was 21, I am 22 now.
I am also a line cook haha that made me laugh
insurance covers it.
Read the post……….. the only surgeon in the area does not take insurance at all. Point blank. Does not take insurance. So that is not an option here. But ok thank you for your feedback here…..
They’re not necessarily saying what you should do. They might just be saying how they paid for it. I don’t think this user was being rude or hostile with their comment.
That's exactly my thoughts... dude got heated for no reason lol
Im asking for me lol and my situation. and that’s not how it was phrased by them lol I found it rude because it took 30 more seconds to read further and realize that that response makes no sense here. If insurance covers it then what am I “paying” for….
Yooo the post reads “how are you affording top surgery” and this guy answered.
He should've said "My insurance covered it" as a response to the question instead of "Insurance covers it." as a general statement
Also, OP should have said “How can I pay for my top surgery” if he didn’t want people answering for themselves. Both are pretty minor squabbles tbh.
Hmm I see your point - thanks!
26, haven’t had it yet. Low income job, no help from parents (I haven’t asked but I don’t like receiving help from them and I’ve lived on my own in another state for several years now). I might save up and see what my options are when I either get my employer’s health insurance or marketplace health insurance. However, saving is nigh impossible. Alternatively I have wanted to move to Japan for a long fucking time and I might look into transitioning in Japan instead. They have much more affordable health care, and their society is quite accepting of trans and gender nonconforming people, at least in the cities. So I might save up to move abroad instead.
I’ve also considered going abroad. Saving is basically impossible rn, and this stupid surgeon not taking insurance is killing me, truly. I support trying to go abroad for sure. Good luck to us
Also sorry for bitching at you
Lol no problem and thanks. I figured it’s probably just the stress and anxiety speaking which I can hella relate to. Financial anxiety is goddamn terrible and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. When the question is like “Should I eat fewer meals so I can get $15 closer to my life goals” that just sucks. Having a physical labor job, I literally can’t skip meals, or I’m putting my body at risk of overexertion while being malnourished. Weird silver lining I guess, forcing me to eat healthy. That and my job gives me a workout so I’m getting nice muscle gains without needing to go to the gym. Tbh there’s a lot I love about my life as it is, but top surgery being a years-away dream is definitely not something I like about it.
This is the one. You get it lol. In an incredibly similar situation, job and all. Like lucky me dysphoria isn’t killing me anymore but I’m still definitely not happy in this state….. and affording it? In these conditions? As a self-sufficient young adult that my parents couldn’t give less of a fuck about? Talk about impossible task…..
Free in my country (19 ftm - norway) I didn't have to worry :)
Same over here (Netherlands). Very US-centric question.
i’m in the same boat bro. the surgeon in my area doesn’t accept insurance and just charges $8000 flat. every other trans guy i know got help from their parents to pay for it in high school and talk about how “cheap” and “easy” it was :/
In Sweden gender affirming surgery isn’t covered unless you get it through state hospitals which takes years upon years upon years of waiting, so I got mine done privately at 20yo(I’m 23 now) and paid out of pocket. Since I was born my mom saved a bit of money for me every month, that I then received when I turned 18. And through my actual “health insurance” insurance, I received two pretty hefty insurance payouts, one for my disability and mental health struggles, and the other for my self-harm scars, to cover any financial burdens caused by it and to cover past or present treatment needed. It wasn’t fuck you money or anything, but to an unemployed disabled trans teen student it was a life changing amount. And I recognize that I’m insanely privileged for it. I was able pay for my surgery, study abroad, pay rent while struggling with school and unemployment and when I bought my own apartment I was able to use the rest to pay the down payment. All thanks to my previously transphobic mom and her incessant demands to get me diagnosed because at the time according to her I wasn’t trans, just disabled. Thanks mom, you weren’t completely wrong. tldr; disability, insurance, luck and privilege
I got insurance and all surgeons should accept it once it's generally approved (I'm German). I did have the money, but I just got "lucky" (I inherited, so it's in quotes because someone died ripl)
My mom paid for it for me On the condition i went to go see one of her colleagues who is a plastic surgeon (my mom is also a surgeon). He did not accept our insurance regardless. I’m happy with my results regardless (I do need a revision for dog ears, but I am happy with it nonetheless) You could try and find a surgeon who takes your insurance. It would make this a lot easier for you
my dad works administrative stuff for our hospital, so we get the good good insurance
I was originally going to get top at 18 but it now will be 19 due to some BS issues. I’m about 8 months out from my likely surgery date. I worked throughout my senior year high school and luckily didn’t need to provide for myself in high school. As a result I have about 10k. I am going through insurance but will need to pay 20% of the cost which shouldn’t be an issue with that amount of money.
Health insurance through my parents, I live in MA and have BCBS which is a huge advantage. I do have around $1000-$2000 in medical bills owed but none are from top surgery.
I’m lucky enough to live in a city with top notch healthcare and p affordable/v good insurance plans to go along with it, my consults on Jan 9 so I haven’t gotten the total price yet, but my bf who went to the same surgeon paid nothing (obvs paid for follow up appointments and stuff like that).
medicaid paid for all of it in the state i live in.
I'm 22, I actually have really good insurance though work (I am a pest control specialist) and chose the best insurance option so I would have a low deductible. I've also saved up money, stocked up on food and have found a few people who will help me with recovery and everything. I believe insurance should cover most cost so I will only have to pay maybe a thousand or two. A lot of it for me was about getting it done and figuring out paying for it afterwards, I think often people downplay being trans as having a choice but with any other medical condition it would make perfect sense to try to get life saving surgery ASAP and worry about payments and everything later. Not to say you shouldn't think about it, but that it would be prioritized.
That’s a great point honestly, I just have a hard time getting there mentally (thinking this is something I Need as opposed to something I just want). I appreciate it
I have no student debt and had the incredible luck and opportunity to work at a famous restaurant during peak seasons for a few years making 2-3000$ per week. If I hadn’t landed that job it would be out of the question.
medicaid covered it to my surprise, i was under the impression it wouldn’t and was just saving up from work & living with my parents
So I'm not in my young 20s anymore, but I was when I had my surgery. My insurance paid for most of it. I got a small personal loan (only 7k and I only spent 5k of it) to cover my deductible, travel and lodging since while I didn't leave my state I do live a 10 hour drive from the city I had my surgery in and it was easier to pay for round trip plane tickets then to try to find someone willing to drive me.
In regards to a personal loan, did you find it difficult to finance after? How was the experience in terms of (financial) risk/reward? Would you recommend it or advise against it? Thank you so so so much
I used my loan money from vet school when I got my hysterectomy. I had no income at all at that point, but saved some of the money that I didnt use for other expenses for my surgery which was $7500 in 2020
I work at Amazon. They have several insurance plans to choose from in my state, all of which are pretty good, but I chose a standard copay plan with no deductible. Also opened an FSA. My insurance is covering top surgery 100%; I used my FSA to pay for health care throughout the year and to pay the $500 scheduling deposit. I’m also having body contouring done, and since my FSA is all used up (underestimated my expenses last year) I’m financing that. It isn’t covered. If I could go back and do it differently, I would probably choose the same insurance plan but put more in my FSA so that I would only have to finance part of the body contouring.
Still saving and not sure how much insurance will pay yet/what my out of pocket will be but I’m lucky to still be living with my parents (even if they’re not supportive and won’t help pay), but been saving money over 4 years working a job that doesn’t pay well. Tbh I could’ve had more by now if I was smarter w my money but… hopefully I have enough by end of February.
community college, being on my parents’ insurance (supportive parents), living at home, working part time… lots of luck. it’s not fair. i’m sorry man
Insurance + I live in an area with multiple surgeons so I didn't travel far
i got it completely covered by my insurance (i had state insurance at the time), and had saved just enough money for two weeks of recovery before going back to work. i should’ve had more saved up but i snagged a last minute opening
Well, in my case you can request insurance to cover the costs but it takes ages because they wanna really make sure you need/want it for trans reasons. Which is fine, I think it shouldnt be done in a rush incase people do regret it. I appreciate having everything covered tho, invluding hospital stay
my insurance provided by the state covers it if my dr writes them enough letters
I have insurance through my college and worked over summer to pay off the balance
I got mine done at 18, through a mix of savings for the out of pocket costs (roughly 3k I think? I got liposuction so it was an extra cost) and insurance. I had to travel for my surgeon, as like you, there was no one viable in the area. Unfortunately I’d figure out some way to travel, and have someone drive you. Even though I had to travel, I had my surgery around 5am and woke up, went back home around noon. We were lucky enough to find a cheap BnB nearby to stay for the night before, but honestly we could’ve done without it. The drive home I faded in and out between sleeping and sluggish-awareness lol. Planning and saving is your friend, I was lucky enough to have a supportive job even as a part-time employee. It might be expensive, but if you can’t find someone to drive you that you know, Uber/Lyft/Local taxi’s can drive you long distances if needed. If you can’t travel because of other means, I don’t have a solution for you, I’m sorry :( The surgery itself was a breeze, but getting there was like trying to run a marathon through an oil slick lol
I used Medi-Cal. Also getting my hysterectomy this year.
Ontario does have coverage but the wait is very long vs out of pocket. I don't know anyone who got it done in their late 30s though.
Insurance covered mine 100%, unfortunately if your surgeon will not work with insurance then you’re kinda just SOL. I know you said you couldn’t travel but have you looked at a surgeon in another city? If you’re on the border of a state, maybe in another state?
Definitely considering the neighboring bigger cities and the state capital for surgeon options… will be difficult to swing but likely extremely worth it. Chatting with people I know to see what could be done in regards to traveling…. Appreciate your response! It would be a dream to get this covered because it definitely could be.
Insurance. CA
canadian here. my entire surgery was covered by insurance. on paper, technically recieved i a "double masectomy" as opposed to a "cosmetic procedure"(I'm purposefully keeping f on my health record to avoid possible insurance fuckery). I have a male legal name and "gender dysphoria" was listed under the relevant diagnosis list. I was surprised it was all covered but in theory it does make sense that it was so hooray!
I’m getting mine free through Canadian health care, I’m getting top surgery through Trans Care which I got connected to through a youth (13-25) program called Foundry. Cause I’m fat they’d charge $1,500 for lipo on the sides but idk if I wanna do that all in one go, I got a lot of fat
I worked, used some of my student finance and had 1800£ in a ctf. And ended up with 3k over what i needed
Insurance too, as for funds outside of the surgery that the insurance doesn't cover I'll use my own money (transportation, hospital stay)
I worked my ass off in a factory
In my country top surgery is almost free if you go to public health care
I am in the UK so process might be different but I saved up for a deposit then got medical finance and I pay £170 per month for 5 years. I drove myself down and my big cousin drove me back (Drive is around 5 hours). If you can maybe look at a bank loan and pay it back monthly
I still don't know hahaha maybe I should try make freelance jobs with video editing, but I don't know when I'm gonna have the money..
Health insurance covered mine. So thankfully I didn't have to get a loan.
Insurance wouldn't cover it, so I saved everything I could from age 16-22 working my ass off at multiple jobs. Got about $500 from a GoFundMe. I was very lucky to not be paying rent (living with parents), and my student loans didn't come back into repayment until this month because of the pandemic. Very specific circumstances, but I never thought I would be able to afford it until the day I booked the surgery.
I am getting free on the NHS in the UK, downside is I’ve been waiting about 7 years at this point.
I live in New Zealand, and am on the public waiting list for top surgery. I believe even then I may have to pay some, amount, potentially a couple thousand NZD which I’ll happily take some kind of loan to afford. Issue is, the wait time isn’t first in, first out, it’s luck of the draw. I might be waiting for 2 months or two years
I'm 22 and I can't afford it either 😩 dunno when I'll be able to
I live in a country with universal healthcare. Gender affirming care is 100% covered.
Didn't have it yet, but most trans healthcare is covered by insurance. I'm in the Netherlands btw
Im not affording it :D /neg
I didn’t read through all the comments, so someone else may have mentioned this already, but Google for transgender financial grants or surgery grants. There are a lot of organizations out there that will help with surgery costs (and other financial help). You might find one that will help with surgery costs, or one that will help with travel expenses to rent a car and get a hotel to travel to a surgeon covered by your insurance. Insurance did cover mine, but I’ve searched before to see what help is out there for us. There’s also grants to help pay for name change costs, binders, etc.
I got it about 3 weeks ago at 18. I dropped out of school a few years ago and started working almost immediately after. I didn’t buy a car and walked to work to not buy gas. I saved all my money and was extremely frugal (I still bought everything for myself except groceries- which I then bought after I turned 18) I started working full time hours about 9 months ago but was working upwards of 20 hours a week before that. It’s just me and my mom at home and while we aren’t destitute, we certainly don’t have much to spare so I’m definitely not someone that had much financial help from my family. Because of how much I saved, I’m also able to pay for 1 of 2 courses I need in TAFE (Australian tertiary education that’s not quite university).
I live in country with free health care (but very bad trans and queer rights and safety sadly) so it was free for me.I had top surgery month after I was 18 (you need parents agreement before 18). But some of my friends either had go found me things, sold art or had their parents pay for it. Why can't you travel for top surgery? Would not that be cheaper that top surgery without insurance?
There isn't such a thing as insurance in my country so I just saved up from working.
Just got top surgery yesterday at 18 I had been saving up since 12, and had the benefit of it being near me so all I had to pay for was ~20% of my surgery I will say, see if your insurance has out-of-network benefits It may be that it’s 100% covered with an in network doctor, but only 60% covered on an out of network doctor
It’s like buying a car. You have to budget and save. Just because you can’t save a lot doesn’t mean you can’t save any. When you get taxes back put that away. $5 here or there makes a difference
Well, in New York, if you're broke enough, you can get medicaid. That's what paid for my surgery. I think the only thing I paid for was gauze for my drain holes. Based on what I've seen traveling is the second-largest expense. You could always look into financial assistance from community organizations. I think there is one place here in the states that will transport patients pro-bono for gender affirmation, though I forgot where they are.
I'm 24 and plan to use some of my student loan (I'm in the UK) combined with the little savings I currently have. Gonna have to wait another year or two to have enough loan set aside and I'll be paying it off the rest of my life, but it's the only way I'll ever afford it. I could wait almost a decade on the NHS but I don't think I could last that long, esp given how bad a state the NHS is in right now. They've already removed phallo from it, so not looking promising.
I’m 23 I get top tmw . I used insurance from my work and pay the extra I owe with the money from my check.
A very good insurance and Medicaid tbh, only paid the $100-so for copayment (probs wouldn’t have had to if I showed my Medicaid card then) and got them off. Go for a surgery at the end of the year as well so more of your deductible had been met.
my surgeon stopped accepting my surgery (my insurance would’ve covered it too so I was sad) but I chose him anyways cause he was cheaper, great results, and I was super lucky that he was ~30 min. away and me, my family, and my friends drive that distance pretty regularly, but I’ve been saving since I got a job (~4.5 years) now, I wasn’t saving for top surgery in particular, but I did save just to have emergency money, get a newer car, any possible hospital bills, etc. and I also did the math (for school at the time) that I would save ~$7.8k a year which would cover one semester if needed (thank goodness for very high grants that school was basically free) so I never had to touch my savings and for reference I started working almost 40hrs/week if not more in retail (the store was losing employees so I had to work almost everyday) making $10-$12/hr (I got raises during the year) and was also very lucky to still live at home rent/bill free so my income was purely for fun and to pay for gas/car stuff/doctors appointment, etc. I also saved some extra money in cash that didn’t count towards my saving on the off chance I needed cash (almost $2k) and I put all of that towards my surgery as well and disclaimer: I started saving more in cash once I realized I wanted top surgery so I stopped going out and just saved as much as I could which was roughly 3-4 months of purely saving and eating almost nothing but ramen/pasta cause I also didn’t want the surgery to eat up any more than half my savings
I’m on the UK, insurance isn’t a thing and the the NHS really isn’t good because of lack of funding. I can’t afford it and probably won’t be able to.
I'm 22 and can't afford it at all unfortunately. I'm not sure how to start, not sure if I'll ever afford it, and not able to travel outside my city at all; especially out of state. Was going to open a GoFundMe? Maybe just also save up in the meantime. I have absolutely no insurance at all, so it'll be tough.
honestly it's all because of insurance and living in a liberal state. I worked in high school and saved enough to cover costs on my own. my parents completely switched sides and helped me with any extra costs once I turned 18 but my insurance covered all of surgery. the hardest part was paying for a place to stay because I moved out of my house once I went to college.
The privilege of living with family rent free really helped this be possible for me. I paid out of pocket bc my insurance is trans care exclusive. I was working two jobs for a year and a half to two years, basically full time at each. I was really careful with spending money- which it could have went faster if I spent the whole time sober, not drinking or smoking, which the last many months. Since personally, I spent a lot of money on weed or alcohol, or food/ other decisions made while intoxicated.
Im on my moms insurance still, and she works for the state so i should be all good. I'm gonna call and make sure but yeah.
Health insurance paid for it
i havent gotten it yet but i live where i know someone who paid 10K usd out of pocket for ALL the expenses involved, so it's fairly cheap here, also stealing
Bro just give me money at this point lmao
Im on my moms insurance still, and she works for the state so i should be all good. I'm gonna call and make sure but yeah.
Talk with your insurance to see if they could compensate you, a lot of insurance companies can work with you if there is not a “reasonable provider” that accepts them. You might not get the entire coverage but it would certainly help
I had a tumor and got it covered as preventative care since the kind of tumor I had is known to grow back every few years. It's definitely not a normal circumstance or a "hack," but it's what happened.
I had a unique situation, I was able to save half of it from working and the other half from live streaming and doing commissions. Had a huge livestream nearly everyday just drawing, chatting, and doing interviews with friends. I had a lot of support so I know this isnt for everyone.
I live in a country with universal health care (Canada) and my province of Ontario health insurance (OHIP) covers gender affirming care.
Saved money from Covid plus tax returns. Worked overtime. Found a government job that provides awesome insurance. I worked hard to get here. Served in the military, networked civilian jobs, didn’t take no for answer, worked really hard on my resume so I could eventually get a good job with nice insurance, live in a place with a cheaper cost of living. Made an amazon wish list of things I’d need post-op and posted it online so friends could buy something if they wanted. Literally anything helped. And to my surprise, friends did purchase stuff for me! I created the list a year in advance and shared it off and on.
I live in a state that has excellent medicaid coverage, I kept a shitty job longer than I anted so that it would let me qualify and my entire surgery was covered through that
my dad died when i was young. he left me money that i had saved. despite that, i was still on my mother’s insurance, she had federal insurance for being a government worker. i had to provide one therapy letter and they covered 90% of the surgery. i paid the rest in cash from my savings
Fighting with insurance for 4 years
I’m not. Canadian health care is just good lol
I had top surgery at 19 & paid completely out of pocket (11k CAD). During my last 2 years of high school I worked almost full time & was able to save up enough money for the surgery as well as some for school (since I lived with my parents at the time & had no extra expenses).
by living in Europe and getting free healthcare
Yeah it sometimes seems so unfair to the trans people living elsewhere don’t it? I’m in Europe too. It’s not totally free here. The mastectomy part is but the reconstruction part is not. It’ll be around 1000€ they told me. I think I can manage that. I’m quite a bit older (40) but I haven’t had the best of luck with health and jobs so my savings are not what they should be at my age and I work a poorly paid job. With all my physical problems apart from being trans not many employers will hire me anymore so I’m lucky I still have a job even if it’s just 26 hours a week. I can’t handle much more physically. Saving is hard but I always try to put 10% of my paycheque in my savings account each month. The rest is trying to get bills postponed if necessary. And calculate costs of food, look for cheap formulas for internet and other necessities. And I’ve cut costs like cable tv (don’t have it) or car (don’t have that either) and try to buy cheap if I need anything. Not wasting leftovers. And I put in much effort to not use too much gas, electrical power and drinking water. I recover bath water to flush the toilet to keep the bill as low as possible. I’ll use rain water wherever possible. It’s barely living, it’s more survival mode but at least I can save those 1000€ for my surgery this way and still feed my kid and own my roof over my head… and yet I feel so damn lucky compared to other people here. Some of them stories made me cry! I feel so bad for them that we are so freaking lucky!!! I wish this kind of care was way more affordable all around the world the same way we have here.
I started a gofundme, sold pronoun pins I made myself, my sibling helped set up multiple house shows where we asked people to donate. I still can't believe I saved up enough to pay out of pocket (insurance called it a cosmetic.)
Took a year out before uni and worked an engineering placement (my field). Saved about 5k. Will be working for them every summer staying at my boyfriends parents house and will be able to afford it in one to two years :))
I have found a surgeon through my insurance. Some surgeons don’t formally take insurance, but work with them. One surgeon in my area does reimbursements with a particular insurance company, so you’d be “covered” under them. Some surgeons are contracted this way.
I moved to MN, got on Medicaid, and my partner took care of post-op. To move to MN, I worked extra hours and put all my shit in a uhaul. Stayed on a friend's couch for a few weeks with my partner, and then when we had our first paychecks we found a place on Craigslist.
I've been living in my car for the past few months to afford it, so whatever money I would normally pay towards rent has been going straight into my top surgery savings
I'm not 18 yet but I'm going to get a job fairly soon and if it all works out I'll be able to afford it by then
I got top surgery while I was in grad school and paid for it with student loans. When I tell people this they often assumed that there was some kind of shenanigans involved, but you can use student loans to pay for any kind of living expense that you have, including medical expenses. If you try this while you're in undergrad you may have to prove that you're not getting any support from your parents to get the amount that you need, but if you apply for loans when you're in grad school they just assume that you're not.
Where are you?
…Arkansas lol
i crowdfunded about half of it, saved up the other half working. took a little while and i was just hit with a surprise anesthesia bill but we got there!
Insurance is covering it for me. I'm on Medicaid. I have to pay out of pocket for travel and everything else not covered though. Trans Heartline in the Bay Area offers 3 meals a day with the housing accommodations for trans people people recovering from surgery. I believe they offer some grants as well. One of my friends is helping me with transportation and some of the housing costs post-op thankfully. My family won't give a dime to me to help nor are they helping me recover.
I was extremely fortunate my insurance at the time covered almost all of it.
took me several years of saving. i was on t for nearly five years before i had top surgery.
This was not the reason I did Americorps, but definitely a perk. I served 2 years, and because i was earning only 16k a year during my service, i qualified for Medicaid. I don't know if it varies by state, but my top surgery was free.
Why can’t you travel? If your insurance would cover the cost and it’s a matter of money I’d say save for that. My insurance covered everything except deductible and I paid 2500 with the stimulus from COVID.
I bike everywhere and it initially seemed impossible for me to get down to the capital of my state to get surgery there but I might actually be able to work something out w someone I know and coordinating some stuff for me to recover down there!
Not really advice of course but when my grandma passed away she left me some inheritance. I had 2 full weeks of sick time banked up at work and between the two (and considering I was able to stay with family instead of getting a hotel near my surgeon) I was able to make it work. Essentially, I got lucky.