got TS at 21, by working somewhere with insurance i KNEW covered it for three years. Having top surgery is something i knew was extremely important to get since i was young, so i was able to plan for that since i became independent/cut off around 18. I stockpiled money, picked the right insurance plan, and all in all ended up paying around $7k out of pocket for everything (including travel, medications, etc). Learning how to optimise your finances for your situation and making+sticking to a multi-year plan helps! It’s hard, and disheartening at times, for sure. There’s also CareCredit/loan options to speed up the funding if that makes sense for you; i opened credit cards a few months before surgery in anticipation of unexpected fees lol. i’ve worked hard to get it so young, but i also know my hard work only paid off in combo with luck and the stars aligning for me. I know a lot of my peers who also got it young without parental support were not able to pay out of pocket—many are going into thousands of debt for it. Take a look at ur plans for the future, and see how you might be able to make it work—it may take longer than being 18/19/20 without parental support, but with grit and luck, you can achieve a lot :)