Application for declaration of change of sex on birth certificate — transgender rights — female to male — medical treatment — gender reassignment surgery — bilateral chest masculinisation — Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995, ss 27A & 28 — "Michael" v Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2008] 27 FRNZ 58. The applicant applied for a declaration on his birth certificate showing him as male. He had been born a female but had been living as a male for as long as he could remember, including binding his chest since 2013. In order for a court to grant a declaration under s 28 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act ("the Act"), it must be satisfied that the procedural criteria is met. The applicant was an "eligible adult", being over the age of 18, and the administrative steps were met. The substantive test from the "Michael" case requires a three-step assessment: firstly, that the birth certificate contains information that the applicant is a person of the sex opposite to the nominated sex; secondly, whether the applicant has always intended to maintain that gender identity; and thirdly, satisfaction on expert medical evidence of the applicant's psychological assumption of the assigned gender identity; the applicant's adoption of the physical conformation of the gender identity as a result of medical treatment; and the permanence of the physical change brought about by the applicant's past or current treatment. Medical evidence had been provided by a sexual health clinician confirming that the applicant had undergone a bilateral chest masculinisation but not yet had surgery on his genitals. The Judge noted that the usual letters of support from friends and family were not present here, but that could be for cultural reasons. The Judge was satisfied that the criteria had been met, and made a declaration that the birth certificate record the applicant's gender as male. Judgment Date: 15 June 2020. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *