What is updating a birth certificate?
Updating your birth or adoption certificates to change the listed name or gender.
What does updating a birth certificate do?
- ID documents
Alters name or gender
What should I be aware of?
Warning
These pages summarise general information about law in England and Wales and represents our understanding of legislation and case law as volunteer laypeople. It is not intended to give specific legal advice on which you should rely. If you require legal advice relating to this subject please consult an independent legal professional.
How do I update my birth certificate?
You may wish to update your name or gender on your birth, marriage, or civil partnership certificates.
If you were born in England or Wales, the only way to do this is through obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
If you were born or adopted in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also be able to request a change of name (but not a change of gender) on a birth certificate by officially registering your name change with the National Records of Scotland or General Register Office for Northern Ireland. People in Scotland and Northern Ireland can still update both their gender and name by obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Warning
If you update your name on your birth certificate without a GRC, your birth certificate will show both your old and new names.
Acknowledgements
This page is illustrated using a photograph by The General Register Office available at Wikimedia.
Errors and omissions
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