[Source: Reuters]

Mehr Khan, an Indian transgender woman, arrived for a routine hormone therapy appointment only to discover the crucial treatment had been suspended after a recent change in the law narrowed the range of those eligible for such services.

“The doctor was really just hiding his face. He didn’t know ​what to say,” said the 26-year-old event planner, adding that she glimpsed “fear on the staff’s faces” at the clinic in the southern city of Hyderabad.

Khan is one of many Indians grappling with ‌denial of care after the option for self-identification of gender was scrapped in March, making legal recognition conditional on certification by a panel of doctors instead.

But the government has yet to specify the nature of specialists on such panels, leaving uncertain whether they owe responsibility to state or central authorities.

Before the 2026 law, transgender people could apply online to change their gender marker on the basis of a letter from a gender-affirming care provider, such as a surgeon or psychiatrist.

India says the change aims to curb misuse of welfare benefits and boost safeguards, but ​activists and doctors warn it could boost uncertainty for providers and cut many people off from key medication.

The government and Tata Trusts, which funds the Sabrang Clinic, where Khan was being treated, did not respond ​to Reuters’ request for comment.

At least a dozen transgender people told Reuters the change had disrupted their care arrangements, with clinics pausing services and delaying surgeries.

Five doctors said they were ⁠proceeding cautiously, as some providers ask transgender people for declarations that they were seeking treatment voluntarily.

“Doctors are very concerned and confused as to what kind of care they are now allowed to give,” said Arundhati Katju, a senior lawyer ​with a Supreme Court practice.