Korean Supreme Court rules transgender parents can change legal gender

The Supreme Court of Korea in Seocho District, western Seoul, on Nov. 16, 2022. [NEWS]

The Supreme Court of Korea ruled Thursday that a legal gender change should be allowed for transgender people with children who are minors.

A lower court had previously ruled that a woman, who was born a biological man, could not change her legal gender due to the fact that she had had a child who was still a minor when she had been a man. The woman underwent gender affirmation surgery in 2018.

However, the Supreme Court specified that a legal gender change would only be allowed in the case that the transgender person is a single parent, meaning that a transgender person still married to a partner cannot apply for a legal gender change if their children are minors.

The decision by the Supreme Court Thursday overturns the court’s position on the issue after 11 years.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]