Quote:
Originally Posted by Reba
If the child hasn't yet had the surgery, why did they issue new ID and insurance cards with the new sex? "Kim's" body hasn't been fully "changed" yet so the sex on the body and the sex on the cards don't yet match. Is that legal?
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Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS) is not the defining trait of a transperson. More important are self-identity and the assumed characteristics (behavior, physical movement, etc) of their 'changed' gender. Some transpeople switch identities with no medical intervention; some take hormone injections regularly; some use hormones and surgery. This can be because of financial reasons, or because surgery would be medically inappropriate (say, in a patient who is immunocompromised, or hemophiliac), or because it's very difficult to obtain this kind of medical care. All of these are common long-term options in the trans community.
I don't know German law on this issue, but in the US, medical intervention is not required in order to legally change your gender (names, obviously can be changed by anyone). I'm not sure about whether you have to be approved by a psychiatrist - as a practical matter, the courts won't do it without that, but I'm not sure about the legislation involved.