Bans on transgender care leave families and doctors scrambling

Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Many states have banned transitional care for transgender minors this year, leaving families struggling with difficult issues.

Some move to states where treatment is always allowed. Others are staying put for now, but are traveling out of state for medical care.

Uncertainty is more than medical care. Families with transgender children are also concerned about new laws that restrict access to restrooms and sports teams.

Doctors in states where transitional care for minors remains legal are struggling to cope with an influx of new patients from elsewhere. Some face waiting lists of more than a year.

Fight or flight: Transgender care bans leave families and doctors scrambling

Laws of 20 states have left the fate of clinics in doubt and families with transgender children seeking medical care across state lines.

By Ernesto Londoño and Azeen Ghorayshi

Photographs by Jamie Kelter Davis

July 6, 2023

David and Wendy Batchelder hate the thought of putting their spacious home in West Des Moines, Iowa on the market, disrupting the routines of their six children, or abandoning the Lutheran church they have attended for about a decade.

But two new laws left them debating whether to leave Iowa.

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