The Kerala High Court has granted relief to transgender parents who wanted their gender details removed from their child’s birth certificate. Zahhad and Ziya Paval are Kerala’s first openly transgender couple to become parents together.
The Kerala High Court directed that the gender designations of Kerala’s first transgender parents on their child’s birth certificate be changed from ‘mother’ and ‘father’ to simply ‘parent’ for both individuals.
Justice Ziyad Rahman AA issued this order in response to a plea from Zahhad, a transman (assigned female at birth but identifies as male), and Ziya Paval, a transwoman (assigned male at birth but identifies as female), who are the first openly transgender couple in Kerala.
Also Read: Special Category Status for Transgenders in Employment and Education: Madras HC
The Court stated,
“This writ petition is disposed of directing the fifth respondent to issue birth certificate with the modification by removing the columns of names of father and mother and by incorporating the names of the petitioners as parents without referring to their genders,”
A copy of the judgment is still pending. The transgender couple attracted media attention in February 2023 when Zahad gave birth to their child.
The birth certificate registered by the Kozhikode Corporation listed Zahad (transgender) as the mother’s name and Ziya (transgender) as the father’s name.
Zahad and Ziya approached the Corporation to modify their child’s birth certificate to reflect both as ‘parent’ instead of mother and father. However, their request was denied, leading them to seek relief from the High Court.
The petitioners explained,
“Since scientifically there’s some contradiction in the fact that male giving birth to a child, the petitioners requested the authorities to avoid the name of father and mother but simply writing ‘Parent’ to avoid further embarrassment which the third petitioner (child) would have to face during her life time viz. school admission, Adhar Card, PAN Card, Passport and various other documents including job and connected matters,”
They argued that the refusal to issue such a certificate infringes on their and their child’s fundamental rights.
Additionally, they contended that this denial contradicts the principles established by the Supreme Court in the landmark NALSA case.
The petition highlighted that several other countries permit couples, particularly same-sex couples, to select their title on their child’s birth certificate from options like ‘mother,’ ‘father,’ and ‘parent.’
The petitioners represented by advocates Padma Lakshmi, Mariyamma AK, Ipsita Ojal, Prashant Padmanabhan, Meenakshi KB, and Pooja Unnikrishnan.
Case Title: Zahhad & Ors. v State of Kerala