UK’s top court rejects trans man’s bid to be named child’s father – Reuters

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A British transgender mans bid to be named the father rather than the mother on his childs birth certificate has been rejected by the countrys highest court, in a case that has highlighted evolving conceptions of gender.

Freddy McConnell transitioned aged 22 and official documents, such as his passport and health records, have been changed to show his sex as male.

Britains Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal against a ruling by a lower court that said existing law balanced trans rights with the view that every child should have a mother and should be able to discover who their mother was.

The challenge did not raise an arguable point of law, it said on its website on Monday.

McConnell and his lawyers did not reply to requests for comment.

McConnell, a journalist, stopped taking testosterone in 2016 and became pregnant through fertility treatment using donor sperm.

His journey to parenthood was shown in a documentary, Seahorse, and he is currently sharing his efforts to become pregnant again via IVF on Instagram.

This couldve been a really pivotal moment for trans parents such as Freddy, said Cara English of trans advocacy group Gendered Intelligence.

We hope that in the near future the loophole that forces men such as Freddy to be incorrectly referred to as mothers can be legally righted.

In April McConnell told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he had accepted his legal fight would be a long road and that appealing to the European Court of Human Rights was a possibility.

I dont really think its about the fact that I gave birth, he said. Ultimately, its about the fact that trans people have never been taken into account.

Reporting by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage; Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org

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UK's top court rejects trans man's bid to be named child's father - Reuters