Bill > S478

Introduced Session

This bill revises the requirements for obtaining an amended certificate of birth due to a change in sex. The bill provides that the State registrar of vital statistics shall issue an amended certificate of birth to a person born in this State who submits a request for an amended certificate of birth which shows the sex and name of the person as it has been changed. The application may be submitted on the person's behalf by a parent or guardian, if the person is a minor. Under current law, a person must undergo sex reassignment surgery to receive an amended birth certificate. Under current law, the State registrar is to issue an amended certificate of birth upon receipt of a medical certificate from the person's physician indicating that his or her sex has been changed by surgical procedure. This bill would change the requirement to provide that a person could submit a form provided by the State registrar and completed by the person's licensed health care provider which indicates that the person has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition, based on contemporary medical standards, or that the person has an intersex condition. Current law further requires the State registrar to place the original certificate of birth and all papers pertaining to the amended certificate of birth under seal, which is not to be broken except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. This bill would permit the seal to be broken upon the request of the person who is the subject of the certificate of birth, or upon the request of the parent or guardian, if the person is a minor. The bill also provides that in the case of a resident of this State who was born in another state or in a foreign jurisdiction, if such other state or foreign jurisdiction requires a court order in order to amend a certificate of birth to reflect a change in sex, a court in this State would have jurisdiction to issue such an order. The purpose of the bill is to acknowledge that individuals do not necessarily undergo sex reassignment surgery when changing sex, and to revise the process for obtaining an amended certificate of birth due to a change in sex to reflect current practices.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D)*,  Reed Gusciora (D)*,  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D)*,  Joe Vitale (D)*,  Loretta Weinberg (D)*,  Andrew Zwicker (D)*,  Christopher Bateman (R),  John Burzichelli (D),  Richard Codey (D),  Patrick Diegnan (D),  Timothy Eustace (D),  Vin Gopal (D),  Jamel Holley (D),  Mila Jasey (D),  Angelica Jimenez (D),  Angela Mcknight (D),  Gabriela Mosquera (D),  Nellie Pou (D),  Annette Quijano (D),  Teresa Ruiz (D),  Holly Schepisi (R),  Cleopatra Tucker (D), 

Approved P.L.2018, c.58. (on 07/03/2018)