Families with transgender kids are increasingly forced to travel out of state for the care they need

By ARLEIGH RODGERS and MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

CHICAGO (AP) — Families around the U.S. are scrambling to navigate new laws that prohibit their transgender children and teenagers from accessing gender-affirming care. With at least 20 states moving to ban or to restrict such care for minors, some kids feel they are receiving the message that they cannot be themselves. For more than a decade prior, such treatments were available to children and teens across the U.S. and have been endorsed by major medical associations. Many parents are doing their best to support their children through the turmoil, even traveling out of state to help their children find the care they need.