Parents of the children will now be able to register
their child's sex as "undetermined" or "unspecified" on the birth
certificate.
Germany has become the first country in Europe to allow children
with the characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither
female nor male.
Lawmakers announced the "indeterminate sex"
category in August, saying that the regulation would come into effect on
November 1st.
The decision to change the rules was made in order
to remove pressure on parents to decide on controversial sex-assignment
surgery for their newborns.
Parents of the children will now be
able to register their child's sex as "undetermined" or "unspecified" on
the birth certificate.
Around one in 2000 people are born with
the characteristics of both sexes, they are known as "intersex" people
and may have genital ambiguity, and combinations of chromosomal genotype
and sexual phenotype other than XY-male and XX-female.
Germany
has become the first country in Europe to allow children with the
characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither female nor
male.
The new law is also aimed at preventing discrimination
against people who are not defined as either male or female. German
passports currently list the holder's sex as either F for female or M
for male.
The new law means people could now have a third designation X, for intersex persons.