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Important
Covering Letter Many of the communications suggested below will require a covering letter, this is a template similar to that I used:
Alter and add to it as required in each case.
Name ChangesWhen choosing your female name try to keep your initials and surname the same as before - for example "Allison Beverley Smith" is a probably a better name for an "Allan Brian Smith" to adopt than "Jane Helen Monroe" would be. Avoid over-the-top drag queen style names or names that are too obviously derived from a male form - these might help confirm slight suspicions about your gender and help "out" you. Avoid very unusual names which may make you stand out. Also avoid names that are trendy at the moment but were rare when you were born. Unfortunately boring, common and traditional girl names are undoubtedly the safest choice.
Legal
Methods
But in practice we need only consider a Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration as it takes too long for Common Usage to take effect, and bodies such as Banks will not always change your name without legal documents. Most people opt for the Statutory Declaration because it is quick, easy and cheap. A Deed Poll from a solicitor may be necessary if you encounter a very fussy organisation which refuses to accept anything else, but the Statutory Declaration is normally sufficient, and at around £10 it costs much less than the £40-50 needed for a Deed Poll.
Statutory
Declaration
Ignore the brackets and italics which I added just to indicate where you need to add your own details, don't change the format or punctuation. Print it out on heavy, good quality, A4 paper of say 150gsm, use margins set to one inch (25.4 mm) all round, 12 point Times New Roman for the body text and 14 point Times New Roman for the title. I did 10 copies knowing that some places wouldn't return them - and I still ran out! Take your carefully produced Statutory Declaration forms to a Solicitors Office, a name change is a standard procedure so anywhere that does family law or has a legal aid logo in the window should be able to process it. You sign the copies in the presence of a solicitor, and they countersign and add their official stamp. This costs about £10 - I suppose you can shop around to get the best price if you really want to.
Medical CertificationAfter the statutory declaration, the next essential is a letter from a medical practitioner certifying that you are undergoing sex reassignment treatment. You will need to send this to various organisations to help facilitate your name and gender change. If you are not under psychiatric or clinical supervision then this letter is probably most easily obtained from your local GP where you are registered. I actually for a long time used a letter provided by a surgeon at an overseas hospital, however this was on occasion queried (although never refused), and a letter from a UK based practitioner is undoubtedly preferable.
Doctors & Psychiatrists Your medical files have to changed in to your new name, and ideally to those of a female patient. A recent (2006) correspondent says "... I went to see my GP, she change[d] the name for me. Therefore, from now on, both electronic noticing board and prescription will show Ms. XXXX. Due to the database check, as long as the gender is M[ale], “Miss” can not be select. This is before any doctor’s letter and Deed poll signed. Therefore, it is possible to change this item before any other documents." Below is a standard letter for your doctor to use as a Letter of Medical Evidence, there are many slight variations of it in common use. To avoid confusion and unnecessary hurt and embarrassment it is deliberately worded to omit any use of the words he, she, him, or her! It must be printed on headed paper to be of any use.
When I asked my GP to write this letter for me I gave him an original copy of my Statutory Declaration. You can expect your doctor to make a small charge (£7-£12) for the letter. Make a good number of photocopies of this letter, send out the original only when you have to - and with a return SAE! The same correspondent reported that when visiting a psychologist in the UK for an initial consultation, he gave her three similar letters for the Passport Office, DVLC, and "other".
Document ChangesWhere
some form of identification is needed as a woman, this is normally best
met by the production of a driving licence or a passport. The
good news: These and other identity documents may according to
prevailing practice be issued to you in an adopted name with a relative
minimum of formality. In the case of transsexuals, the documents
are issued so as to be in all respects consistent with the new
identity. Thus, the practice is to allow the transsexual to have a
current photograph in his or her passport, etc, and the prefix
"Mr", "Mrs", "Ms" or "Miss",
used as appropriate.
Birth Certificate
The
bad news: Unfortunately in the UK and Ireland it is still not
possible under the "Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953"
for a transsexual woman to get her birth certificate legally changed to
indicated a sex of "Girl" (if born before 1969) or
"Female", rather than "Boy" or
"Male". Although some of the lesser effects caused
by this have been mitigated by officialdom over the years, you should be
aware that marriage between a transsexual woman and a man remains
unlawful (it would be in law void by reason of the parties not being
respectively male and female), adoption and fostering of children by a
transsexual woman is effectively prohibited, and rape of a transsexual
woman by a man is not chargeable as such. [Note - this situation has now
changed in the UK and a new birth certificate can be issued even without
surgery. But I'm unfamiliar with the new processes.] For
a revised passport, obtain
the correct UK Passport Application Form, usually C1, which is available
from Post Offices. I believe that an on-line
version is also now available. Send the completed form along with
a covering letter, a copy of your Statutory Declaration or Deed Poll,
your Doctors/Medical letter,
your current passport (or your Birth Certificate if you don't have an
existing passport), and two passport sized colour photographs in the
envelope provided to the appropriate Passport office, which for me was
in Peterborough. The application can also be submitted through
participating Post Offices for a small charge. The
new passport should arrive about two weeks later, it should have both
your changed name and photo, and the "Sex/Sexe" field marked
as "F". It may also have a machine readable
passport (MRP) field which again should contain an "F" after
what appears to be the date of birth reversed. The Passport Office
will return all the original documents you sent to them. Driving
Licence If
you change your name and hold a current UK driving licence you must
inform the DVLA without delay or you are committing an offence. Obtain
the Form D1 from a Post Office. If you have a paper licence send the completed form with a
covering letter, a copy of your Statutory Declaration, a photocopy of
your Doctors/Medical letter, your current UK driving licence, an original
identity document (Passport or Birth Certificate), and a certified
passport sized colour photograph to "DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BY".
If it's a Photocard it should be post to SA99 1AB. If you
have a valid UK digital passport you can just fill in Section 6 Part A
on the D1 form without sending your birth certificate or passport. Note
that you cannot use the Post Office Checking Service in this instance.
The covering letter should quote your current driver number at the top
and state that you wish your legal name on the licence to be amended to
that of your new legal name and that the gender indicator code be
altered to show female. Within a couple of weeks you should receive back your new photocard driving
licence, and the original identity document. On your new licence, check
that the gender code has been changed -your date of birth and gender are
shown in the middle, 6 digit, part of your driver number, e.g. if born
on 8th September 1969 the old number as man would be 609089 [First/last
digits = year; Second & third = month; Fourth & fifth = day]. As a
woman, the 2nd digit has a 5 added, thus the new number should be
659089. Because
of its photo, the new driving licence is actually a very useful form of
ID. National
Insurance Card Send
an original of your Statutory Declaration and a photocopy of your
Doctors letter, together with a letter from yourself quoting your NI
number to the central DSS office. The
following is what I wrote to them, (include a reference to your previous
name and N.I. Number): "I
am writing to request a change to my NI card, to reflect my gender
change as a male-to-female transsexual. I have enclosed an
original copy of my statutory declaration, and an open letter from my
GP confirming my treatment for gender dysphoria, along with my NI
card. I understand that the card name can be changed but that
the number will remain the same. Also, that I may be regarded as
female for some purposes, and male for others such as pensions under
the current legislation. Please could you arrange to change my
name as below." Post
to: Department of Social Security, Special Section D Room 105H,
Contributions Agency Central Operations, Longbenton, Newcastle upon
Tyne, NE98 1YX. They
will reply with a standard form letter stating that your liability to
pay NI contributions, and your entitlement to benefits, will not
alter. This means, for example, that your retirement age will not
alter. Later, in a few weeks, you should receive a new plastic NI
card with the new name, but there will be nothing on the card indicating
any alteration. The NI Number will remain the same, and the
central office will still keep a record of your previous name as well as
the new one, which may be viewed on the DCI computer by any authorised
employee of the DSS. All employees of the DSS are bound to keep
information confidential unless required by the police or the courts.
The DSS central index will also be flagged to show that you are to
be treated as female for some purposes and male for others (e.g.
pensions).
Medical
Card
Can
replacement certificates can be issued in my new name (as most
exam boards in England do)?
If
there is a charge for replacement certificates?
Who
do I send my original certificates to?
What
additional information would you require, e.g. statutory
declaration of name change, letter from GP, birth certificate?
School
Certificates (Ireland)
In
2007 the State Examination Commission and the Department of Education and
Science agreed to re-issue Leaving and other Certificates in the legal
name and preferred gender of a transsexual applicant - SRS is not
necessary.
Baptismal
Certificate Adele
says of her experience concerning a degree obtained at a College of
Higher Education, which was authorized by the now defunct Council for
National Academic Achievements (CNAA):- I
was led to believe that the Open University has taken over some
of the CNAA roles and in December 2000 sent them the following
letter: Student
Services (Registry) Ref:
CNAA Degree Certificate. I
am writing to request a change to my degree certificate, to reflect
gender change as a male-to-female transsexual woman. During the
period 1987-90 I studied at my local College [college name], for a
Bachelor of Arts (honours) in Modern History. Under reforms of
the Higher Education system in the UK all colleges were given
University status and the Council for National Academic Awards was
abolished in the early 1990&'s. In
1998 I began psychiatric evaluation and hormone therapy for
transsexualism. Once I began living full time as a woman in 1999
I sought to change all official records relating to me. This was
quite difficult as the University that was created from the
reorganisation said they could do nothing. A year later,
following my recovery from Sex Reassignment Surgery this summer I am
trying again, assured by friends on the internet that this is really
possible. I
have enclosed an original copy of my statutory declaration, degree
certificate, and letter indicating degree classifications and
confirmation letter from my surgeon. Please could you arrange to
change my name. I understand there may be a charge for
replacement certificate and that this will mean a delay until it is
received. She
received the following reply three weeks later: The
Open University Validation Services Thank
you for your letter of 5 December which has been forwarded to us by
the Open University's central Registry. I confirm that gender
reassignment is the one case where we are prepared to issue award
verification documentation in a revised name. I regret that we
are unable to provide you with a replacement certificate as such.
However, I enclose an Open University document which has the
appearance of a degree certificate and certifies that you are indeed
the holder of a CNAA BA Honours Degree in Modern History. I
hope that this will serve your purposes. I return your original
CNAA degree certificate herewith and suggest that you retain this as
it is not now replaceable and is the link to the original records.
I also return herewith the original documents which you enclosed
with your letter. Should any employer or institution of higher
education ask if they can approach us direct for verification of your
award, please let us know straightaway and refer to this letter. Income
Tax A
warning - do not try to sort out your tax details until you have
informed your employer of your transition! Send
a letter addressed to the HM Inspector of Taxes at the Tax Office which
deals with your affairs, mark the envelope 'Private &
Confidential'. In the covering letter quote your N.I. number
and tax reference, include an original of the Statutory Declaration, a
photocopy of your Doctors letter a photocopy of your medical card
(couldn't quite understand this one!), and a recent payslip. The
following is what I wrote to them:
If in doubt, post to: HM Inspector of Taxes, East 1, Cheviot House, Washington, Tyne & Wear, NE37 1HE.
Bank
Accounts
Other NotificationsThese are just typical examples. There will obviously be variations depending on who you deal with. The following organisations do not usually require any official documentation before changing one's name on their files. Merely completing the name and address change in the appropriate place on the payment slip (if there is one) and / or sending your covering letter often suffices Obviously you do not need to inform them of anything unless you are their customer!
The following will each probably need a covering letter, a statutory declaration, and a copy of your doctor's letter.
The above list is far from comprehensive, as an individual you will almost certainly have other organisations to add to the list and some to remove from it.
Ireland I moved to Ireland only four months after transitioning in the UK. Thankfully most of my just-changed UK documents remained applicable there, including my driving licence. The one important exception was that I had to obtain a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number, the equivalent of the UK's NI Number. The PPS card includes the holders "sex" on the magnetic stripe on the back of the card, and also possibly hidden in the PPS number itself. I had not previously been issued with a PPS number and had no problem obtaining one as a "female" based upon my UK passport (which had already been changed), and my employment contract which used my female name. If I had already had a PPS number, then I believe that like the UK's NI Number it could not have been changed - creating an undesirable history.
My Pre-Transition
Advice If you have to give a photo with an application, use the most androgynous picture of yourself that you can find. This is primarily for inspection by a person. Websites and mobile phone apps increasingly use facial recognition software to validate photographs against your actual appearance, but because these use physical facial measurements based upon the shape and proportions of the face they don't care if the face in one image has no makeup and slight stuble, whilst the second image has beauty pageant levels of makeup. Radical facial feminisation surgery that changes the shape and proportions of the face are far more likely to cause problems. Building up a financial background and credit history in the years before you transition can be very helpful. In my experince a bank will happily issue a second credit card for a fictional female partner at the same address - in this instance use a prefix and forename (e.g. "Miss Allison Smith") and submit an en-femme photo, making it a useful form of emergency ID. Also, open a joint bank account (e.g. Allan Smith and Allison Smith) or change an existing account in to both names. If possible change a utility bill over in to your new fictional partners name - this bill will become a vital proof of residence immediately after transition. A final but useful option is to open a bank account for a fictional daughter or gran child, e.g. "Miss Jane Smith", who's nearly 18. No evidence is required to open the account, and it will generally roll-over to a standard account, which can be very useful.
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