“The stakes really could not be higher,” says Steven Rocha, a 23-year-old trans teacher in Florida. Photo: Getty Images.
Like over half of the states in the U.S., Iowa has passed anti-trans laws directed at minors. Thanks to the right’s anti-trans rhetoric, anti-trans laws have skyrocketed in the past couple of years.
These laws have devastating consequences for the upwards of 11,000 trans teenagers who live in those states. Veronica is one of those trans teenagers. In a story reported by NPR, Veronica shared the 450-mile journey she takes every few months to get from Iowa, her home state, to Minnesota, which allows gender-affirming healthcare.
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When Iowa’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors took effect in March 2023, Veronica was in the midst of treatment and only had a few months to find an out-of-state option or stop her treatment.
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Veronica’s mom, Emily, shared, “You never think, as a mom, ‘I can’t wait for my kid to grow up and leave the state,’ but that’s where I’m at right now.”
Emily said that she knew Veronica was trans before she came out, she realized when she saw a trans woman speak at class she was taking in 2017.
“It was like I was hit by a bolt of lightning. I was like, ‘This is my child. I know this in my soul, in my heart. [After that] I was kind of just waiting to hear — I wasn’t pushing it, but I just knew.”
Veronica has faced cruel comments from classmates and neighbors, and her mom has had to fight to change her name in the high school’s system. There’s no good option for which bathroom to use at school. Emily says neighbors and classmates have made cruel comments.
Speaking to her daughter, Emily said, “I can’t wait for you to find your people, your support, your health care providers — everything you need. I want that for you, even if it’s far away.”
For most families, moving away wasn’t an option. Veronica has three young siblings, and her father and grandparents all live in Iowa. So she and her mom decided that every couple of months they would have to travel 450 miles so Veronica could continue getting treatment.
When Iowa’s ban took effect, Veronica was taking puberty blockers. She had come out as trans to her friends three years ago and her parents and siblings two years ago. If she were to stop taking the puberty blockers, male puberty would have restarted, meaning some bodily changes such as voice deepening, the growth of her Adam’s apple, facial hair, shoulder-broadening, and more would have taken effect and permanently changed her body in a way that would have exacerbated her gender dysphoria.
She still gets puberty-blocking shots, which is what she travels to Minnesota for every couple of months. In December of last year, her new doctor started her on hormone therapy, taking daily pills of estradiol, a type of estrogen, while she continued getting puberty blocker shots to keep her testosterone levels down. The family also has to get her estrogen pills at a clinic in Minnesota, as refills are banned in Iowa.
While Veronica said, “I feel like it’s helped me feel a lot better about my body,” her mom has other reasons for why she’s glad her daughter can continue treatment: if she looks like a cisgender woman she’s less likely to be the target of violence or discrimination for being a trans person.
Veronica’s doctor in Minnesota agrees her mental health seems to have improved since he began seeing her.
“She’s doing well — in an ideal world, I would see her more often, but it is a burden [for her] to get here,” he said.
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