A child born in the Canadian province of British Columbia is reportedly the first baby not to be identified as male or female at birth.
According to CNN.com, instead, the baby, named Searyl Atli Doty, was identified as “U” on their health card, which reportedly stands for “Unknown” or “Unspecified.”
The baby’s parent, Kori Doty, identifies as a non-binary transgender and hopes that, by foregoing a genital inspection and identification for the child, the child can more easily discover their true identity later in life--something which Doty says was a personal struggle.
"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 said.
“It is up to Searyl to decide how they identify, when they are old enough to develop their own gender identity," Doty went on to say in a statement. "I am not going to foreclose their choices based on an arbitrary assignment of gender at birth based on an inspection of their genitals."
Although Doty has reportedly faced difficulty in obtaining a birth certificate for Searyl, the health card will allow the child to be eligible for healthcare services.
Doty is an advocate for not assigning gender at birth, not only for Searyl, but for all children. Eight complainants, including Doty, are arguing before British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal that gender identification at birth should be abolished.
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: July 5, 2017
