Kerala HC allows Transgender couple to use gender-neutral ‘parent' in birth certificate
Kerala HC
KOCHI: Kerala high court has allowed India's first pair of biological transgender parents to be identified in their child's birth certificate by the gender-neutral term 'parent' instead of the usual distinction between 'father' and 'mother'.
Justice A A Ziyad Rahman passed the order on a petition filed by Zahhad and Ziya Paval, both natives of Kozhikode. Zahhad, who identifies himself as a trans man, gave birth to the couple's child in Feb 2023. The birth certificate, issued by Kozhikode Municipal Corporation under the Kerala Registration of Birth and Death Rules, 1999, mentions Ziya as the father and Zahhad as the mother.
The pair's request to the corporation to do way with parental gender distinction in the document was turned down, prompting them to move court.
Zahhad argued that a trans man being identified as the child's mother could cause complications, including while seeking admission to a school and applying for a passport or Aadhaar.
The bench directed the Kozhikode corporation authorities to modify the birth certificate within two months by removing the columns for father and mother and incorporating the names of the petitioners as 'parents' without referring to their respective gender.
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