Last year, 21-year-old Maj Ellis was living in the coastal Australian village of Sawtell in New South Wales with a population of less than 4,000 people.
A year later, Maj is one of the 3.3 million people living in the city-region of Manchester and they're soon about to embark on one of the biggest moments of their life.
The decision was made after Maj, now 22, finished their studies and decided to work in the media industry.
“There aren’t a lot of options in the media in Australia so I thought I should try either America or England,” Maj, who was born in Castlemaine, Australia, tells the M.E.N.
“I have dual-citizenship as my dad’s from England so I thought it would probably be the best decision to come here and Manchester seemed like the perfect place because of MediaCity.”
Now living in Salford, the move to a new country was also an opportunity for Maj to live a more authentic life.
Earlier this year, they began identifying as non-binary as it felt more in line with how they felt.
“I feel like I’ve always known that I didn’t have a connection to any gender,” Maj says.
“But I came to terms with being non-binary a few months ago when I realised I had to identify as something more clear to other people.
“It’s never been a big revelation; I knew I wasn’t ever a woman and I’d always see the ‘cool guys’ on TV but never wanted to be them either. I was just me."
Read more of today's stories here
Maj, who works in sports media, is now aiming to raise funds to help them have top surgery, a procedure to remove breast tissue in order to alter the chest size and appearance.
“Even as a child I never wanted to be womanly, I just wanted to be me, without any labels or expectations,” Maj explains in the fundraiser.
“I walked around shirtless all the time until I started 'developing' then I would get in trouble.”
The decision to raise money through a fundraiser came about after Maj realised that getting the surgery on the NHS came with a waiting list of three years.
“I wasn’t really sure if I could wait any longer for this - I’ve already waited 22 years,” they say.
“So, I looked into how I could go about surgery through private. I’ve never asked anyone for money and I definitely couldn’t ask my family for money so I thought I’d see if anyone wanted to donate.
“I’m surprised that I’ve even got more than £5, it’s been very humbling to see that people care and want to support me.”
Back home, Maj says they are loved by their family but they can struggle to understand what they’re going through.
“Finding out that your kid’s gay is a big thing to deal with,” Maj says.
“So, I think finding out I don't identify as anything and want to have surgery to take off a part of my body would be a lot to put my family through.”
Maj says a close friend came out as non-binary last year and Maj’s mum struggled to understand what it meant.
“She was very confused about it,” Maj explains.
“And then when I bought a chest binder a couple of years ago, my mum was so upset when she found out about that because she wasn’t sure why I wanted to hide my chest.
“That wasn’t even a permanent change, it was like getting a sports bra.”
Since moving to Manchester, Maj says they have found it a lot more liberating than their small hometown in Australia.
“Australia is quite backwards and I come from quite a small-minded town,” they add.
“The closest gay bar to me was five hours north in Brisbane but here in Manchester, there’s a whole gay village.
"Living in the city feels a lot more open. I love it, it’s so cool.”
In September, Maj will meet with a doctor for a surgery consultation and hopes to have surgery in December.
They are already a fifth of their way to reaching their fundraising target and have even received contributions from family back home.
"Having this surgery will help me feel more confident in myself and become closer to people," Maj adds.
“I’m just very grateful for what has been donated already and super impressed with the support.
“I’m also hopeful that maybe this will help someone else who is in a similar position to me.
"Maybe it’ll let them know that it’s possible, it can be done.”
You can donate to Maj's fundraiser here.
