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Story: Gender diversity

Changed birth certificate

Changed birth certificate

For many transgender people the gender given on their birth certificate does not seem accurate or appropriate. It is now possible for people who were born in New Zealand to have that gender changed. (People born overseas may be able to get theirs changed by applying to the family court.) Cindy Lewis shows the new birth certificate issued to her in 2005, after she successfully applied for a certificate that accurately represented her name and gender rather than those she was assigned at birth.

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How to cite this page

Johanna Schmidt, Gender diversity – Human rights and discrimination, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28896/changed-birth-certificate (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Johanna Schmidt, published 8 March 2013, reviewed and revised 4 May 2021 with assistance from Gender Minorities Aotearoa.

Comments

steff
06 October 2016
Why did Cindy need to travel to Thailand, because the Government won't prioritise reassignment surgeries and the waiting list is 60 years long. Will all transgender people be eligible to change these details? No only a select minority i.e. those who have waited on the list before death or those who can afford the local medical costs in addition to the $7-24k reassignment surgery costs. For most New Zealand transgender people the gender given on their birth certificate may not seem accurate or appropriate, but the Government will not recognise us unless we complete gender reassignment surgery. Yogyakarta Principle 3 notes that “no one shall be forced to undergo medical procedures… as a requirement for legal recognition of their gender identity.