New Cross transgender woman raising funds for private surgery to avoid ‘insufferable’ 8-year NHS wait

Mikaela “Mika” Irish has decided to go down the private route for her surgery, as the NHS waiting times, which can take up to a decade, are too long to bear.
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A transgender woman has set up a GoFundMe page to fund private gender reassignment surgery and avoid an eight-year wait on the NHS.

Mikaela “Mika” Irish, came out as transgender in 2020 during lockdown and was referred to the NHS Gender Identity Clinic.

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The 39-year-old from New Cross, Lewisham, started her transition as a private patient, in consultation with her GP and has been on hormone replacement therapy medication ever since.

The software developer has decided to go down the private route for her gender reassignment surgery (GRS), as the NHS waiting times, which can take up to a decade, are too long to bear.

Mika Irish, who is funding her surgery as she says the NHS wait is too long. Credit: Mika IrishMika Irish, who is funding her surgery as she says the NHS wait is too long. Credit: Mika Irish
Mika Irish, who is funding her surgery as she says the NHS wait is too long. Credit: Mika Irish

“Whilst there is an NHS pilot scheme in London for gender confirmation therapy, I don’t fit the eligibility criteria for that,” Mika told LondonWorld.

“Now I’ve come to the point where certain aspects of my dysphoria are quite severe and are quite damaging to my mental health.

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“I’ve decided because it is actually within my means to a certain extent to take the private route to which is oddly enough one of the less expensive trans surgeries.

“However it’s still a considerable financial cost, it’s £15,000, even before things like extra diagnoses and referral letters, so that’s why I’ve created a GoFundMe page.

“I have the means to do it all myself with financing, but it’s a considerable financial burden.

“Also as a contractor I’ll be off work for two or three weeks at least, so it all adds up.”

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Mika says that she is one of the lucky ones as she has a good job in the financial sector, supportive friends and family and the means to go down the private route.

“Even with financing things, without going through the NHS route, this is a route that those on benefits would not be able to get,” she says.

“It gate keeps a lot of trans healthcare due to the insufferable rate it takes for the NHS to get into gear.”

Mika Irish says that London is a safe space for the trans community. Credit: Mika IrishMika Irish says that London is a safe space for the trans community. Credit: Mika Irish
Mika Irish says that London is a safe space for the trans community. Credit: Mika Irish

Mika says that coming out as transgender during lockdown made the process a lot easier.

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“I’ve found the transition process relatively easy, especially seeing as I started all of this in lockdown and I had been on hormone replacement therapy for at least six or seven months before I was really going out and about,” she explains.

“It’s not as easy for a lot of people, I’ve had a few advantages there, for example by the time I was back in the office last September, I was basically able to blend in reasonably well.

“I’ve had the luck of supportive friends and a supportive family, a supportive GP and a supportive employer.”

‘London is a safe space for the trans community’

Mika says that the financial sector in London is generally very supportive in terms of minority inclusion and that London generally is a safe place for the trans community.

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“The anti-trans voices in the UK are loud but they are few and in general we are generally accepted, especially in London,” she says.

“The places that aren’t safe in London are places that aren’t safe whether or not you’re trans, particularly if you’re a woman.

“I think we’re up there with Brighton, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow for being a safe place for the trans community.”

While London is a generally supportive place for the trans community, Mika says the main problems lie in the NHS’s provision of trans healthcare.

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“Sometimes in the NHS Gender Identity clinics you have to prove that you’re trans enough,” Mika added.

“They’re not even underfunded or understaffed, someone more paranoid than I would say they are set up to slow down the rate of people transitioning.

“There is an issue at the moment where the NHS ‘over-medicalises’ the transition process when it’s not really that complicated.

“You end up in a situation where trans people know more about their hormone replacement therapy than the GP that they’re talking to.”

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However Mika says that there are a number of young GPs coming up the ranks who are more willing to support trans people in their transition.

In London, there is also an NHS pilot scheme called Transplus that is a lot more forward thinking.

Mika, who hopes to get her surgery in September this year says that Londoners can support the trans community by simply treating transgender people how they want to be perceived.

“It’s just general social acceptance and support is all we really ask for,” she said.

To support Mika’s surgery costs you can make a donation to her GoFundMe page.

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