Transgender People and Birth Certificates
In many states, transgender people can obtain a new or amended birth certificate that indicates their new sexual identity and name following sex- reassignment surgery. Visit our listings to see which states have specific birth certificate laws.
(Thanks to Shannon Minter, senior staff attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and author of Representing Transsexual Clients: An Overview of Selected Legal Issues.)
Others states also may permit transgender people to obtain a new or amended birth certificate through administrative procedures conducted by the state instead of the courts.
In states that will only amend a birth certificate, your new information will be added but your earlier sex also will be left visible. Other states will simply issue a new birth certificate that reflects only your up-to-date information.
How can you change your birth certificate?
While the answer depends on where you live, typically you should begin by contacting your state's department of public health and human services or registrar. They, in turn, will ordinarily require at least three things to make the change:
• You must have had sex-reassignment surgery before the state will reissue or amend your birth certificate;
• You need to produce documentation of the procedure from the surgeon; and
• You must present your original birth certificate or a certified copy of your birth certificate.
You also are likely to be charged a fee to cover the cost of processing the change.
The significance of changing your birth certificate
For many years, attorneys strongly recommended that transgender people change their birth certificates because it was thought to be a change of sex for all legal purposes, including a legal marriage to a person of the opposite sex.
That assumption, however, has been challenged, by recent court holdings in Texas and Kansas. (Littleton v. Prange, 9 S.W. 3d 223 (Tex. Civ. App. 1999), cert. den. 121, S.Ct. 174 (2000) and In the Matter of the Estate of Marshall G. Gardiner, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 117 (Sup. Ct. Kansas 2002))
Both Littleton v. Prange and In the Matter of the Estate of Marshall G. Gardiner, involved male-to-female transsexuals who acquired updated birth certificates but were unable to have their subsequent marriages recognized by the courts upon legal challenge. And in both cases, the state supreme courts rejected the concept of a legal sex change.
It is very important to note, however, that other jurisdictions are not bound by the negative rulings in Texas and Kansas. Therefore, you are strongly advised to consult an attorney about the specifics of your situation and the law in your state.
Important note:
Please keep in mind that the information provided by HRC is intended for educational purposes only and may or may not be valid in your state. We strongly recommend that you consult a local attorney with experience in transgender issues. It is also important that you understand that the information provided here in no way constitutes, and should not be relied upon, as legal advice.