"The first time Misty and her 15-year-old daughter traveled to Ohio to see a doctor, they stayed in a hotel near the Cincinnati hospital. On the second trip, two months later, they left their Knoxville home at 4:30 a.m. and drove more than four hours, watching the sun rise from the interstate, before meeting with an endocrinologist at 10 a.m. Because Tennessee pharmacies would not fill a prescription for her daughter’s estrogen, they waited in a Cincinnati CVS parking lot for two hours and arrived home that night after Misty’s husband, Chris, made dinner for their two younger children. On a Wednesday night in December, Misty drove two hours to Waynesville, N.C., and back to pick up a prescription refill.

"Before Tennessee lawmakers and Gov. Bill Lee approved a new law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth in March, the drive to their Knoxville endocrinology clinic had been 15 minutes. Their regular pharmacy is a mile away.

"'It’s really saving her life,' Misty said, explaining why she is willing to make the recurring road trips. 'That’s what it boils down to. It’s lifesaving treatment.'

"With the new ban on gender-affirming care for minors now in effect in Tennessee, parents across the state are making difficult decisions for their families on where to live and how to find medical care. For some, it’s a debate on whether to leave the state entirely and where and when to move. For others, it’s how to navigate out-of-state healthcare and best support their child when moving isn’t an option."