Gilliatt The claimant was born in 1949 with barely formed male genitalia. He was registered at birth as a male child. He lived for some of his life as a male and for some time as a female until he underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1999, since which time the claimed lived life entirely as a female. An application to have the birth certificate amended to reflect the gender change was refused by the Registrar. S 29(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 forbids unauthorised alterations of the register which must include the sex of the child. The court followed previous cases when it was decided that the register is a historical record. It accurately recorded the fact of gender at birth and the current case law did not allow amendment (appeal to the House of Lords pending in the case of Bellinger). Unless the House of Lords decided otherwise or Parliament provided otherwise, the claimant could not succeed in having the birth register amended.
Judges:
Mr Justice Lightman
Citations:
[2002] EWHC 1191 (Admin)
Links:
Statutes:
Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 29(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Administrative, Family
Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.174981
