The Kerala High Court on Friday adjourned till July 27 the hearing on a writ petition filed by transgender parents seeking a direction to the Kozhikode Corporation to issue a fresh birth certificate to their newborn baby, in which They were mentioned as parents instead of father and mother.
In their petition, Zahad, a transman, and Jiya Pawal, a transwoman, said that with the birth of their child in February, they have become India’s first transgender parents. He explained that the Kozhikode Corporation had registered the birth of the child, and issued a birth certificate showing the father’s name as Jiya Paval and the mother’s name as Zahad.
He had approached the corporation officials for the change. This was because the biological mother of the child identified herself as “male” and the biological father as “female” many years ago and they are now living together as male member and female member respectively. Since this fact is not in conformity with the accepted social norms, it is likely to cause undue confusion in the minds of the people viewing the birth certificate, which may result in saving the minor child of the petitioner from embarrassment. However, the corporation rejected their request and gave them a birth certificate stating the father and mother of the child, the petitioners said.