Gender Reassignment

From the Illinois Department of Public Health:

Gender Reassignment

An individual born in Illinois, with an existing Illinois birth record, may submit an application to the Department requesting to have the gender changed on his or her own birth record after undergoing an operation(s) having the effect of reflecting, enhancing, changing, reassigning or otherwise affecting gender. Genital reconstructive surgery is not required to obtain a change in the sex designation on an existing Illinois birth certificate. (emphasis mine.)

Every individual must complete the “Affidavit for a New Birth Certificate After Completion of Gender Reassignment”. The applicant must be of legal age or the parent/co-parent or guardian if not of legal age. This form must be completed in its entirety and notarized.

For individuals who have had an operation(s) in the United States, the “Affidavit by Physician After Completion of Gender Reassignment” must be completed by the physician who performed the operation(s). This form must be completed in its entirety and notarized.

For individuals who have had an operation(s) outside of the United States, the “Affidavit by Physician Verifying Completion of Gender Reassignment Operation” must be completed by an examining physician duly licensed to practice medicine in Illinois or any other state in the United States. This form can also be used if the physician who performed the operation is no longer practicing, is unavailable or his/her license has been revoked or expired. This form must be completed in its entirety and notarized.

For individuals seeking to also have their name changed, a certified copy of the Court Order of Legal Name Change must also be submitted to this office.

The $15 fee to create a new birth record due to gender reassignment includes one certified copy of the new birth record. Additional copies of the same record requested at the same time are $2 each. Please make check or money order payable to the “Illinois Department of Public Health” and send everything to:

Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Vital Records 925 East Ridgely Ave. Springfield, IL 62702-2737  

Please include a copy of your non-expired, government issued photo identification card. If not provided, unreadable or expired, the request will be returned to the individual.

(I need to check, but it seems if I get breast implants, it should be enough to meet the requirements.)

 

A name change is another matter and I will post more information when I’ve researched it more. It does seem the process is the same for everyone, even if you choose a name opposite of your current gender markers.

 

Another issue is going to be insurance. We go through A’s workplace for our health insurance and I wasn’t even thinking what might happen if I change my birth certificate. She will need to see what if anything might change. Of course our marriage would remain valid even if IL hadn’t approved same sex marriage because we were opposite genders at the time of our marriage. Still, it’s good to know it is no longer an issue.