Jay knew he was different from a young age and when adolescence hit, his increasingly feminine body did not match the identity he was growing into.
He began researching what it means to be transgender and how others like him had transformed their bodies to reflect their true selves. But the soft-spoken animation student from southwest England was devastated to find that transitioning could take years on the state-run National Health Service (NHS).
He is now turning to online fundraising for surgery for his chest, which costs at least £5,000 ($6,500, 5,500 euros) with a private surgeon. "With the waiting list, it just gets to a point where it's unbearable... It's just really difficult," Jay, 19, told AFP, his voice breaking with emotion.
An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 transgender people live in the UK, according to 2018 government data, and about 13,500 trans patients are on NHS waiting lists. But the coronavirus outbreak has lengthened the wait, as the NHS stopped some services deemed "non-essential" to tackle the pandemic.
NHS doctor Adrian Harrop, a vocal advocate for transgender and LGBTQ healthcare, said the waiting list was now growing "exponentially" every month, calling it "inhumane".
The government recently promised to open three new gender identity clinics to meet heightened demand, and cut the consultation fee from £140 to "a nominal amount".
"Trans people tell us that waiting lists at NHS gender clinics are too long," equalities minister Liz Truss said last week. "I agree and I am deeply concerned at the distress it can cause." Read more via France24/AFP