NYC Health Dept. form asks parents if 'woman giving birth' is male or female

It may seem like a trick question, but New York City has started asking 'the woman giving birth' if they are male or female.

The New York Post reports that the gender question is being posed to new mothers seeking birth certificates and it is raising a few eyebrows.

A city Health Department's new birth registration form asks “What is your DATE OF BIRTH, current AGE and SEX?” in a section that is clearly marked, “Mother/Parent (Woman Giving Birth).” There’s a check-off box for “male” or “female.”

The new form also has more standard questions for new moms such as their maiden name, legal name and Social Security number.

Dads are asked the same questions, only there’s no “giving birth” notation in that portion of the form.

“To be clear, it is possible for a person who has given birth to a child to identify as male,” Susan Sommer, a lawyer for Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, told the paper.

She said that given various transgender stages, there is room for the person who gives birth to check the male box.

The City’s Health Department started to change the birth certificate registration form a few years ago as New York state legalized same sex marriages.

The Post says that until a change was made, married gay couples had to go to court to secure their names on birth certificates.

The change was instituted statewide in 2008 and a year later in New York City.

Sommer said the birth certificate provision can clarify parental rights in situations ranging from a hospital nursery to a school registrar’s office.

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