Canadian Baby Makes History, Issued Health Card Without Gender

A baby in British Columbia has been issued the first-ever medical card without a gender designation

A baby in British Columbia has been issued the first ever medical card without a gender designation
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A baby in British Columbia has been issued the first ever medical card without a gender designation

A baby in British Columbia has made history after being issued what could be the world's first health care card that doesn’t specify a male or female gender.

The baby, Searyl Atli Doty, was born at home in November 2016 to Kori Doty, a non-binary trans person that uses the pronoun 'they' to self-identify. Doty’s own personal experience led to the decision to allow the baby to decide their own gender later in life.

"I'm raising Searyl in such a way that until they have the sense of self and command of vocabulary to tell me who they are, I'm recognizing them as a baby and trying to give them all the love and support to be the most whole person that they can be outside of the restrictions that come with the boy box and the girl box," Doty told CBC.

“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,” explained Doty.

Doty said British Columbia has refused to issue a birth certificate without a gender included on it, but the Canadian government recently sent a health card with the letter "U" for gender, possibly meaning "undetermined" or "unassigned." Doty is now fighting for a similarly marked birth certificate.

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