Heavily tattooed Lily is preparing to spend around £42,000 (€50,000) on a series of operations in India, admitting she has no idea how her face tattoos will look afterwards.
The procedures, scheduled for February next year, include forehead surgery with hairline lowering, nose and chin work, an upper lip lift, cheek fat grafting, Adam's apple reduction and voice surgery as part of her gender reassignment. She has been on hormones for around a decade and wants strangers to recognise her as a woman.
A 'big risk' with unknown results
Lily, whose tattoos cover her body from head to toe, including her face and eyeballs, acknowledged the uncertainty. "It is still a big risk," she said. "Nobody knows what will happen, or what my face tattoos will look like afterwards."
She has spent years sharing her unconventional life as a tattoo artist who now focuses on filmmaking, producing films, videos, books and artwork through her creative project Psyland25, based in southern Germany. On TikTok, where she posts as @lily_lu_filmz, she has 176,600 followers and 2.2 million likes.
Limits of self-change and bureaucratic hurdles
Despite the dramatic changes she has made to her appearance, Lily says there are limits without surgery. "I changed everything that is within my reach, my tattoos, my hair, my whole appearance," she said. "I'm on the absolute limit of what I can do myself."
She began her transition and hormone therapy around ten years ago. Breast surgery was planned long ago but repeatedly postponed while she put her earnings into creative work. "Every cent I had went into YouTube, into producing content, into building Psyland, into creating art," she said. "Over all these years I sacrificed myself a little bit. I always pushed it back, I forgot myself."
For the past three years, Lily has pursued a formal process in Germany, attending therapy, seeing doctors and gathering documents in the hope that her private health insurer would contribute. She describes it as a "big bureaucratic nightmare" that has cost time, money and energy. Despite obtaining medical letters supporting her need for surgery, she says her insurer will not pay. "I now have the indication letters," she said. "But I have private health insurance, and they pay nothing at all."
Choosing India and funding the first steps
Lily chose India because surgery costs a fraction of what she would pay in Germany. For someone whose face is covered in tattoos, the prospect brings additional uncertainty about how the artwork will look after procedures and healing. She intends to share the experience openly with her audience. "I am ready to share the whole journey: before and after interviews, before and after photos and video, the hospital, the healing," she said. "I film for a living and will shoot everything myself in high quality."
Breast surgery is expected to cost approximately £3,400 (€4,000). Facial feminisation surgery is estimated at £14,200–£19,300 (€17,000–€23,000), covering the combined facial procedures. Voice surgery is expected to cost £3,400–£6,700 (€4,000–€8,000). Beard hair removal carries an estimated cost of £16,800 or more (€20,000+).
Lily puts the overall cost at around £42,000 (€50,000), although the final bill will depend on the treatments. Her initial fundraising target is approximately £21,000 (€25,000). "I'm not asking for all of it," she said. "€25,000 gets me through the first real steps, and I'll do the rest the way I've always done it: slowly, stubbornly, by working for it."
She has saved some money herself, but years of investing in her art and content have left her with limited funds. Asking her audience for personal help has been difficult. "I'm not afraid to say thank you, I'm much more afraid to ask for help," she said.
Lily's earlier adventures have included barefoot travel, endurance running and exploring the Scottish Highlands with her family. She stresses that she enjoys her life and has plenty of ambitions, including books, films and other creative projects. She hopes moving forward with treatment will give her more room to concentrate on them. "This path is already so long," she said. "I decided, it's time, it's really time."
She hopes small donations from people who have enjoyed her work will help her reach that point sooner. "It doesn't need to be much," she said. "Many people donating a little bit can make a really big impact in my life."
Whatever happens with the appeal, Lily insists she will continue working towards the procedures. "I will do it anyway," she said. "But with your help I can do it much faster."
