Transgender woman who froze sperm before transitioning can't be legal parent of her child
Topics: World News, LGBTQ, Parenting
Gabriella Ferlita
Featured Image Credit: Kzenon / Yelena Kovalenko / Alamy
Topics: World News, LGBTQ, Parenting
A transgender woman who froze her sperm before transitioning can’t be the legal parent of her child, a court has ruled in Japan.
The trans woman, who remains anonymous, is a parent to two daughters with her female partner using sperm which was preserved before undergoing gender confirmation surgery.
However, a judge at Tokyo’s High Court decided yesterday that only a child born before a transgender person’s surgery and legal gender change is recognised formally as their child.
On Friday, the Tokyo High Court ruled that the woman would be formally recognised as a parent of one of her children, who was born before her legal transition, but not of the second child, who was born after.
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Previously, reports stated that those in the transgender community were allowed to change their gender on the family register.
But now, the country requires those in the community to undergo confirmation surgery before they can legally change their gender.
Human rights campaigners have criticised the rule, which means that those transitioning must have their sexual organs changed before being able to change their gender on personal documents.
The woman’s partner was able to be recognised formally as the mother of their girls due to carrying the children and giving birth to them - but the woman’s request to be identified as their legal parent was not accepted by a Tokyo family court in February.
In the appeal, the court ruled that ‘there is currently nothing in Japanese law to recognise her parental rights’.
No further details have been made available of the court case.
Japan is still the only G7 nation, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, which does not legally recognise same-sex marriage.
Elsewhere in the LGBTQ+ community, a child from Louisiana has been kicked out of her kindergarten class because her parents are a same-sex couple.
The five-year-old child’s parents, Emily and Jennifer Parker, were notified by the school officials at the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, that their daughter, Zoey, would no longer be able to attend, according to The Guardian.
The school’s decision came after a meeting with the school director and pastor, who said they do not condone the couple's relationship.
Jennifer told KPLC TV: “We got called into the principal’s office for a meeting, and they informed us that Zoey wouldn’t be able to go to school there anymore because of our lifestyle choices.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected].