Transgender surgery's long waitlists forces 19-year-old to crowdfund for private care

Faced with a three-year wait for his gender affirming surgery, a 19-year-old Calgarian has taken to crowdfunding to pay for the procedure at a private Ontario clinic.

Ben Laurin bails on Alberta's provincially-funded surgical wait list and turns to a private clinic

Jennifer Lee CBC News Posted: Apr 18, 2016 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: April 19, 2016

Trans teen crowdfunds to bypass 3-year wait for surgery

8 years ago

2:42

Ben Laurin, 19, says the wait times for publicly funded gender affirming surgery in Alberta are simply too long.

When Madison Laurin made the decision to start living as Ben Laurin, he chopped off his ponytail, started therapy, eventually had testosterone injections and began to put years of feeling empty behind him.

But the 19-year-old's relief was replaced with frustration as he learned he would wait up to three years to get a double mastectomy the surgery that would take him one step closer to looking like the person he felt like on the inside.

"When you come to this 'aha' moment, you're so excited and you can't wait to start getting the process going, And then you hear about thisand it's just a really defeating feeling," saidLaurin,who binds his breasts every morning before he gets dressed.

"You kind of just lose all hope."

100s caught up in surgical backlog

Laurin is one of up to 400 people in southern Alberta who are currently waiting for some kind of gender affirming surgery. GAS as it's known, includes everything from the removal of breasts and vocal chord surgery to vaginoplasty or phalloplasty, or "bottom surgery."

"There's probably not the resources and infrastructure in place to adequately meet the demand and need for this," said Dr. JoeRaiche, a psychiatrist who works with Calgary'stransgenderpopulation at Foothills Medical Centreand Alberta Children's Hospital.

Dr. Joe Raiche is one of just three psychiatrists in Alberta who provide the mental health assessments required for gender affirmation surgery. (Supplied)

Raicheis the only physician in Calgaryand one of just three in Albertaprovidingthemental health assessments required for gender affirming surgery.

As more and more individuals feel comfortable coming out, we need to have the resources to match that.- Dr. Joe Raiche, Calgary psychiatrist

According toRaiche, patients wait between one and three years for the provincially-funded operations.Top surgery or a mastectomy has the longest wait timeand is seen as the most important surgery for someone transitioning from female to male.

While there is no cap on the number oftop surgeries the provincefundslike there is for bottom surgeriesthere are only a few plasticsurgeons who performahandful of them every year.

"What it comes down to is just a sheer volume," saidRaiche.

"As more and more individuals feel comfortable coming out, we need to have the resources to match that."

One of the solutions, Raicheargues, would seeAlberta Health contracting private surgeonsboth inside and outside of the provinceto perform mastectomies on transmen, in an effort to reduce the backlogs.

Advocates speak out

"I think it's really unacceptable that atransgenderindividual is waiting so long to move forward with their lives," said Pam Krause, president of Calgary Sexual Health Centre thatprovides support fortransgenderCalgarians.

Pam Krause, president of the Calgary Sexual Health Centre, calls the waits for gender affirming surgery in Alberta "unacceptable." (Jennifer Lee/CBC)

According to Krause,the centrehears regularlyfrom people frustrated by the backlog.

"It causes enormousstress," said Kraus.

She arguesthe longer people have to wait to transition, the more likely they are to struggle with mental health issues.

'Benny' fundraises to'remove his jets'

Laurinisn't willing to wait any longer. He's working two jobs and heset up aGoFundMecampaign called Help Benny Remove His Jetsto raise money to have his surgery done at a private clinic in Toronto.

"Honestly I think the first time my chest is revealed to me, I think I might cry," saidLaurin,who has his first consultation in Ontario at the end of April.

"I can look in the mirror and be happy and feel like, 'Yes, this is who I feel I'm supposed to be and meant to be.'"