An eight-month-old baby from Canada was issued a health card with no gender marker.
The baby, named Searyl Atli Doty, was born in November in a house rather than a hospital and did not have a medical official inspect their genitals to determine their biological gender. One of the baby’s parents, Kori Doty, a non-binary trans person, wants Searyl to discover their own gender—and not having a specific gender on any of the baby’s records is integral to that discovery.
“When I was born, doctors looked at my genitals and made assumptions about who I would be, and those assignments followed me and followed my identification throughout my life,” Doty told the CBC.
The British Columbia province is now refusing to issue Searyl a birth certificate with no gender on it, although they did send a health card with a “U,” for undetermined or unassigned, so the baby could access medical services. Doty has now lawyered up and will be fighting to not include Searyl’s gender on their birth certificate.
Searyl’s birth comes at a time when many countries are considering including a third, non-binary gender on birth certificates and identification. Several countries like Australia, Pakistan, and India among others are working to create a third designation for passports or ID cards. And just last month Oregon became the first state in the US to add a third gender option to drivers licenses.
The next step after genderless birth certificates? Hopefully proclaiming death to the gender reveal party!