Navigating Insurance Challenges for Gender Affirming Surgery

Due to a bit of a SNAFU with my insurance approval, it became necessary to reschedule my upcoming gender affirming surgery. It seems that the insurance approval was only valid for a specific period of time. In this case, that period of time was 2 months.

The time period in my case was 4-Sep (date of the approval) through 4-Nov. You might remember that my original surgery date was 7-Nov. That’s no bueno, as my Spanish speaking friends would say. I came to be aware of the situation when I received the official letter version of the approval from my insurance. That arrived this past Saturday.

I’ve been on pins and needles for days now trying to come to a resolution to this conundrum. My appointment for the cardiology clearance required for that surgery was 30-Oct, and that left no wiggle room for moving the surgery forward into the approved time frame. This morning, the cardiology office contacted me to let me know I had an earlier appointment for that clearance. Conundrum resolved!

And maybe the best part of all of this craziness? My new surgery date is 31-Oct. As a pagan, this is a date of considerable significance, that I celebrate as the Witches’ New Year. As noted at the link:

For some, October 31 is celebrated as the Witches’ New Year, still acknowledged as a powerful spiritual milestone. It is said to be when the veils between the earth plane and the spirit realm are sheet thin. In Irish and Celtic Paganism, Halloween finds its roots in Samhain. Samhain translates to “Summer’s End”, as the Ancient Celts divided the year into two major portions, although there were many holidays in their wheel of the year.

Samhain, pronounced Sow-wen, is a powerful time of renewal, when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. I cannot think of a more appropriate time to renew myself with this surgery. I will go in one person, and come out another, physically speaking.

Of course, spiritually, I will still be the same person I always was. Surgery does not make me a woman. I was, and always will be, a woman. But it is a powerful symbol of transformation, and there is no more appropriate time to undertake such a transformation as Samhain.

In the recent past, this surgery would have been sufficient for me to obtain a new birth certificate with my gender marker corrected to Female. That is, of course, no longer the case.

As I noted earlier, Texas, where I was born, is no longer changing gender markers on birth certificates for transgender people. The option simply doesn’t exist because of the actions of one hateful, bigoted man, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He decided, of his own accord, and without legislative action, to overturn years of precedent.

However, I will not let that fact take away my joy at the prospect of my renewal. This year, Samhain will be particularly poignant. I invite you to share my joy. Blessed be.

The journey continues. And as of 31-Oct, it will continue with my physical being more aligned to my spiritual self.

Tags: Gender Affirming Surgery, Paganism, Samhain, trans, Trans Joy, Transgender