I've been through the same frustrations.

Earlier this year, I was SIM-hacked (someone convinced T-Mobile to deactive my phone and transfer it to another SIM under their control). The second the hacker had control of my phone number, they had access to all SMS 2FA. They got into my email, my Coinbase, and my Binance. They then used my payment methods on file to empty my bank account.

Months later, my Coinbase account is still frozen and under investigation.

I've had to think of other ways to obtain Steem.

Not long ago, I picked some up through KuCoin. Unfortunately, if you don't already have a KuCoin account, that means you've gotta do another KYC. But once your account is active, they let you buy crypto with your credit/debit card through a 3rd party (Simplex). I was able to get some Bitcoin, then send that Bitcoin to Blocktrades to become Steem.