Trans Women Seeking Altered Birth Certificates
Illinois Refuses Because of Surgery Performed Abroad
On behalf of Victoria Kirk and Karissa Rothkopf, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court of Illinois to allow the two transgender women to change their birth certificates. Transgender men and women have been able to make such as change for over forty years. But now the Department of Vital Records is refusing to alter the gender marker on the birth certificate unless the person’s sexual reassignment surgery was done by a physician in the United States.
Both women have already changed their driver’s licenses, passports and Social Security cards. What is at issue is an Illinois law that requires gender confirmation surgery be performed by a physician in Illinois or “any other state.” Because their surgeries were performed abroad, the state is refusing to alter their birth certificates.
Kirk and Rothkopf opted to have their gender confirmation surgeries in Thailand rather than the United States. They chose Thailand because the country offers a one-step procedure they thought would be safer than a more complicated American operation. It is not an uncommon choice. Thailand is believed to have the largest male-to-female transgender population in the world and as a result gender confirmation surgery is much more common and less expensive than in the United States. Many transgender women from the United States and other Western countries are drawn to Thailand for their procedures.
However, Illinois’ decision to require procedures be performed in the United States presents a new challenge to the transgender community. There are already strict guidelines that must be followed in order to change one’s legal identity. The first step of changing one’s legal name in Illinois is in itself a lengthy process. One woman has said it took her seven weeks and cost $341 including court costs. Gender confirmation surgery in the United States can cost around $12,000 and with the added costs of legal fees, prescriptions and other necessities it is expensive for transgender men and women to legally transform themselves in the eyes of society.
Limiting where and by who gender confirmation surgery can be performed was intended to protect the transgender community from unlicensed doctors performed illegal and dangerous procedures. But by eliminating the possibility of surgery abroad, Illinois may actually be preventing transgender men and women from making the medical decisions that best suit their personal situations and placing a permanent roadblock in the way of full legal transition.
In a statement issued by the ACLU, Rothkopf defends her decision to seek care abroad, “My surgeon was the best option – the best medical option – for me. My choice of surgeon should not affect my ability to get access to an accurate, current birth certificate.” Kirk is also concerned that a contradictory birth certificate could cause problems in the future. At a news conference, she said, “A document that says I am male puts me at risk of embarrassment, harassment and possibly even physical violence.”
Ruthkopf and Kirk’s case will have an important impact on transgender identity in Illinois and throughout the country. Essentially, it could determine whether the government can dictate the medical decisions of a transgender person during the process of changing one’s legal identity. This case could determine to what extent the state is able to control the legal gender identities of the transgender community.
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