The quest for a new name and gender marker begins!

[Tori]

Holy crap! This stuff is confusing.

So, in America, when possible,

1. Get court order
2. Ammend gender on birth certificate
3. Fix Social security gender
4. Change name and gender marker on ID
5. Ammend name on birth cert
6. Ammend name on SS info
7. Update diplomas, bills and whatnot

Am I seeing things wrong ladies who have done this?

I do not need surgery for my birth cert to be amended, just a court order. Any way to tie it in with the name change and gender marker (my state is pretty liberal when it comes to the gender marker on the ID)?

My head is going to pop.

[Ms Grace]

Good luck - not quite as complicated in Australia (no court order required) but can't change my birth certificate gender marker without the op.

[mrs izzy]

Holy crap! This stuff is confusing.

So, in America, when possible,

1. Get court order
2. Ammend gender on birth certificate
3. Fix Social security gender
4. Change name and gender marker on ID
5. Ammend name on birth cert
6. Ammend name on SS info
7. Update diplomas, bills and whatnot

Am I seeing things wrong ladies who have done this?

I do not need surgery for my birth cert to be amended, just a court order. Any way to tie it in with the name change and gender marker (my state is pretty liberal when it comes to the gender marker on the ID)?

My head is going to pop.

That's a walk in the park, try adding living in another country and add all that plus.

[Joan]

That's a walk in the park, try adding living in another country and add all that plus.

Tell me about it! My therapist suggested a shortcut to changing my gender might be applying for a change of nationality lol

I can't help you with any of that Tori, but good luck and hope you can get it sorted soon 🙂

[Megumi]

For me in the deep south I had to,

Write up my own name change petition get it notarized & make my own court order. I did it all pro se on my part cause I didn't want to pay a lawyer to do it.
Turned my petition into the county clerks office then I had to set up a court date to see a judge.
Went to court, got looked up and down then asked if I was doing this to defraud anyone. Judge signed my order without even reading it.
Got a letter from my HRT doctor stating I was female.
Went to the vital records office and gave them my court order which stated that my name and gender marker be changed on my birth certificate. They asked for a letter from my surgeon so I gave them my letter from my HRT doctor. They were cool with all of that after once again looking me up and down. Got my birth certificate 30 minutes later with my real name and female listed as my gender 🙂
Went to the social security office and showed them my court order and once again they just looked me up and down, asked if I was doing this to defraud anyone then signed some documents and two weeks later I had a brand new social security card with my real name on it.
Went to the DMV and showed them my court order. Once again I get looked up and down but I did have an AMAZING moment with the person doing my DL/ID when I gave her my old DL/ID. She remembered how sad I was 2 1/2 years ago and that memory stuck with her for two years! I'm glad she got to see how incredibly happy I am now 😀

Now I am still in the process of changing all of my personal information with the bank and some credit cards. I didn't have any problems going to the bank or my auto insurance offices and showing them my court order. It was actually quite fun as I didn't give any details as to why I was changing my name and they kept thinking I got divorced and wanted to go back to my maiden name!

That was all I had to do to change my name & gender legally. In the end just coming up with the name change petition and court order were the hardest parts for me as I had to piece stuff together off of the internet but I did it myself which was something I was proud of.

[karina13]

Holy crap! This stuff is confusing.

So, in America, when possible,

1. Get court order
2. Ammend gender on birth certificate
3. Fix Social security gender
4. Change name and gender marker on ID
5. Ammend name on birth cert
6. Ammend name on SS info
7. Update diplomas, bills and whatnot

Am I seeing things wrong ladies who have done this?

I do not need surgery for my birth cert to be amended, just a court order. Any way to tie it in with the name change and gender marker (my state is pretty liberal when it comes to the gender marker on the ID)?

My head is going to pop.

If you don't mind me asking, what state are you in? I know that in California, you can tie in the name and gender change order in the same case, and only pay the court costs once. I'm well traveled (9 different states) and constantly looking at moving to other states, and one of the first things I do is look at gender change requirements, so I'm pretty sure I could help. If you'd rather message me, feel free to do so as well.  🙂

[Tori]

Thanks all for the advice. This is not simple.

I am in Hawaii, born in Utah, so those will be the states I am dealing with. Pretty sure I can do both at once here... but not yet positive.

[Juliett]

 Option B: pay a friendly lawyer a couple hundred dollars. Nice and simple.

[karina13]

I found that under Utah Health Code 26-2-11, that (1) When a person born in this state has a name change or sex change approved by an order of a Utah district court or a court of competent jurisdiction of another state or a province of Canada, a certified copy of the order may be filed with the state registrar with an application form provided by the registrar. However, I can't seem to find anything about Hawaii issuing a court ordered gender change, and the policy for their birth certificates requires an SRS affidavit, so I'm assuming court orders aren't common there, and the law doesn't address them. I would ask an attorney or legal aid. Best of luck to ya!

I was born in *gag* Tennessee, one of the 3 states that won't amend it at all. I hope to be the one to mount a legal challenge to that in the near future. 😉

Thanks all for the advice. This is not simple.

I am in Hawaii, born in Utah, so those will be the states I am dealing with. Pretty sure I can do both at once here... but not yet positive.

[Marcia]

I was born in *gag* Tennessee, one of the 3 states that won't amend it at all. I hope to be the one to mount a legal challenge to that in the near future.

Yeah I know how you feel. I was born in Ohio another of 3 states that won't amend it. This is one of the issues that is making me push off transitioning.

[karina13]

Yeah I know how you feel. I was born in Ohio another of 3 states that won't amend it. This is one of the issues that is making me push off transitioning.

I happen to live in Ohio right now. 4th time living here, lol. For some odd reason I keep coming back.
Changing your passport's gender has become easy, though, and works as proof of citizenship in places where a Birth Certificate would normally be accepted. Having a Passport pretty much makes the Birth Certificate irrelevant. I wouldn't let that stop me from transitioning.

[Kellee]

What is the third state? You've mentioned Ohio and Tennessee.

[karina13]

What is the third state? You've mentioned Ohio and Tennessee.

Idaho

[Marcia]

I happen to live in Ohio right now. 4th time living here, lol. For some odd reason I keep coming back.
Changing your passport's gender has become easy, though, and works as proof of citizenship in places where a Birth Certificate would normally be accepted. Having a Passport pretty much makes the Birth Certificate irrelevant. I wouldn't let that stop me from transitioning.

I live in the northwest part south east of Toledo. The passport being easy to change has helped me along. Not changing the Birth Certificate is not going to stop me from going forward.

[Sydney_NYC]

I did the name change first through the courts in NJ where I live. 2 1/2 month process but did it myself. There is a $200 court fee plus you have to publish in the paper twice. However it was cheaper than going through an attorney where they wanted to charge between $900 to $1500.

I did everything at one time (name and gender), it was just easier that way since I had already been full time for over 3 months.

NJ has a special DMV form that must be signed by a HRT doctor or licensed therapist with your "new" name on it for a gender change. With that and the court order, DMV was fairly painless. They had to go to their supervisor twice, but I was in and out in less than 30 min.

Social security was next for me (NJ doesn't use Social Security information on you DL record), I had my HRT letter and they told me that because I had a NJ license with Female on it, that would have been good enough to change my gender but they kept a copy just in case. Two weeks later got my new SS card, but they misspelled my new first name even though it was correct when I left. I went back, they fixed it and go a correct one a week later this time.

Unfortunately I was born in Tennessee, so yeah, I'm stuck with male on it. Even worse in TN is that for the name change, they cross out the old one and type the new name on top and you can still read the old name.

I've already done insurance (changing gender dropped my rate a little for Auto), banks, credit cards, memberships, etc)

I still need to do passport, but first I need to pick up some more certified copies of my court order from the county courthouse.

[Cris Zoe]

I'm in Pennsylvania and the process is similar to Sydney_NYC and Megumi's actions. I'm about 2 weeks away from my day in court for the final name change and then the trek to DMV, SS and the Passport agency, but I have all but my name change papers ready to go. Here in PA, I did it all myself. I had to go to the local State Police and get fingerprinted. Then to the Courthouse where I filed my change of name petition and gave them $200 for court cost. I have to have 3 name searches done, each about $25-35 a piece at various court offices. Advertise the name change in 2 papers, each about $100. I took care of all that in one day about 3 months ago and since then its been just waiting for the court appearance. I expect it to be the same as Megumi: stand up, say no I'm not defrauding anybody and go get my certified copies. I have a special dress I've been saving for the occasion, since it will be my new birthday 🙂

[karina13]

Unfortunately I was born in Tennessee, so yeah, I'm stuck with male on it. Even worse in TN is that for the name change, they cross out the old one and type the new name on top and you can still read the old name.

On the flip side of all that, I guess one great thing about Tennessee is the ease of the court-ordered name change process itself. In Shelby County, literally you walk in on a Wednesday between 1 & 1:30 pm, with your court order form filled out, an ID, birth certificate, and proof of residency, plus $143.50, and you can get it changed that very same day. Why I'm gonna do it there when I go back to visit soon!

[Jessika Lin]

I can change my name any time I desire (I think that's the case for most people), as long as I can pay for it. However, in my province, I can only get my gender marker changed after GRS.