Top surgery experience SO FAR

⚠️ breast talk, surgery talk, dysphoria talk, etc. ⚠️ 

This is for FTM top surgery (removal of breasts) 

Ik some ppl don't like talking about their breast's or the experiences they've had with them, but if no one talks about it, then no one will know what to do. 

If you aren't comfortable talking about surgery or breasts, that's totally okay!! You don't have to. But I'm personally comfortable with that, so I'm going to share how getting top surgery works. I will be updating this whenever I reach a new step/something happens/etc. These are just the steps I took in Utah, USA, as a minor. 

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step 1. Figure out if your insurance covers it! There should be some number you can call that'll tell you whether or not they cover it. - my dad did this step as, once again, I'm a minor. 

            Step 1.5. If they do cover it, there should be somewhere on their website that tells you which plastic surgeons near you are a part of that insurance. If they don't cover it, find a hospital near you and start researching different plastic surgeons. Without insurance, for me as someone who lives in Utah and is a G cup, it would be about $ 15,000 USD. However, my insurance covers most of it, so it'll be about $5,000 instead. It also depends on different insurance plans. 

2. Get a note from a therapist or multiple! I had to get two. One from my standard therapist, and one with a special certification saying they are allowed to diagnose gender dysphoria. This may take multiple sessions. For me, it took 3, 2 hour long sessions before my 2nd therapist was comfortable enough to give me the note. Make sure they know your medical history! 

3. Set up a psych evaluation. Get in touch with a psychiatrist who works with your surgeon or generally at the same place. This may just be a Utah thing. States/provinences(?)/and countries will differ. Mine only took an hour and was over Zoom call. They just asked me a handful of questions about my top surgery goals, my mental health currently, my mental health history, etc. 

4. Depending on your surgeon you might need another appointment with a hospital to go over certain things like what documents you need, when to call the surgeon, etc. Our appointment was confusing because the doctor that came in wasn't prepared at all. She kept telling us to do things we already did and kept interrupting us. Just a reminder that not all doctors are gonna be super respectful and it won't always be a good expirience. 

5. Set up a consultation with the surgeon. I can't do this step until I'm 18 yrs old because my surgeon doesn't allow it. So we have to set it up in January. 

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This probably wont be updated until january. 

In Utah, minors can not get gender affirming surgery. I turn 18 in January of 2025. So by the time the actual surgery happens, I will be 18 years old. That's why I'm allowed to do these steps as a minor. 

We are hoping the surgery happens in March for spring break. But if that doesn't align up well, we're gonna shoot for the end of May, so I have graduated by then. We're prioritizing school over surgery as it's not life or death. 

I will continue to update this post as more happens! 

Started process in late June of 2024