Gender Affirmation Surgery: cost & need for planning
Gender-affirming surgery allows transgender people to connect with their body that now aligns with their gender. Changes may include the face, chest or genitalia (or often a combination).
In 2019 roughly 11,000 gender assignment surgeries were performed in the United States. The growth of assignment surgeries is partially attributed to increasing health insurance coverage, and increasing legal rights to protect transgender individuals.
The breakdown of common procedures as follows:
Facial reconstructive surgery
Chest or “Top” surgery
Genital or “Bottom” surgery
There are high and hidden costs in gender affirming surgeries. Even with insurance, surgeries can range from $25,000 for bottom surgeries and chest ranging from $7,800 to $10,000. Recurring treatments such as hormone therapies, psychology/psychiatry and laser hair removal can add up to the overall cost.
According to a study by Vanderbilt University, it was brought to light that transgender adults undergo significantly greater financial constrain and have lesser health outcomes than cisgender adults. Furthermore, the findings indicated transgender adults were 14% less likely to have completed college and 14% more likely to live in poverty. The gap, likely due to discrimination and lack of access to resources, is only exacerbated in ethnically diverse groups.
Saving for gender assignment surgery is a daunting task, but it can be done. Coming up with a lump sum of 20K+ is not an easy feat (depending on your income and socio economic background) but there are ways goal planning and strategic saving can help. Hormone therapy is typically required 1 year before a gender transition, this provides some runway to save but planning earlier helps lessen the financial constraints.
To get a nest of $20,000, contributing around $330 in a high yield savings account monthly for 5 years would provide the financial flexibility to proceed with a transition surgery.
There are other more aggressive vehicles that offer a shorter timeline, however when it comes to saving up for a near term goal: the safest route is to maintain your assets in cash or cash equivalents.
Here are some resources for grants/funding: https://www.atrh.org/
