No changes to birth certificate

FANNY Ler's life-changing decision will impact many areas of her life.

But she will try to minimise the impact as much as she can for her daughter.

As she has started hormonal treatment, she no longer looks like a man, though she has not undergone sexual re-assignment surgery yet. She has been downgraded permanently in the army, she said.

"I am now under Reserved, which means I will not be called up for IPPT or reservist (duties)," she said. The IPPT is the Individual Physical Proficiency Test which fit NSmen have to take annually.

If she has the operation, she can submit a medical letter to prove the change for the Singapore Armed Forces to discharge her from reservist status, she said.

She is still listed as being a male on her identity card. After the operation, she will be able to change her sex to female and be officially recognised as a woman.

As for her daughter's birth certificate, no changes can be made, she said. She also cannot change her own birth certificate.

"For my daughter's school report book, I use the name Fanny as it is already my official name. But I state myself as being her father. This is what I had been telling my daughter. That no matter how I change, I am forever her father and my ex-wife is forever her mother," she said.

So far, Fanny has not received any word from the Ministry of Education regarding her changes and how it will impact her daughter.

"I am still her father and when I enrolled her into her current school last year. I informed the school about my status and submitted my psychiatrist letter to the school. So far, everything is normal," she said.

Once she has undergone the operation to become a woman, she may marry a man.

Said lawyer Amolat Singh: "For parties to contract a marriage, they must be male and female. If a person has undergone (the operation) before marriage, he/she will be regarded as being of the sex after the re-assignment.

Therefore, after re-assignment of the sex, there is still a need for both of them to be male and female.

"But the strict adherence to biological gender at the time of birth is no longer now the law."