Denis Santos
- Genderless Baby
- Baby was born without gender
- Mother wants her baby to be free of what he/she wishes to be
Instead of getting marked as male or female, this Canadian baby shocks the world after getting issued a health card with a “U” listed on sex.
Searyl Atli Doty makes history for being the world’s first baby to defy genders, getting a description as “unspecified” or “unknown”.
Searyl is just turning one this November and medical documents in which should tell the baby’s gender does not exist. This is because the mother gave birth outside a hospital. Parent Kori Doty uses the pronoun “they” to identify herself. Being a non-binary trans person, Searyl wants to have her baby the freedom to choose his/her/their own gender identity on their own terms.
In an interview with CBC News, the Doty said, “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 cited some of their experiences and would not allow Searyl to experience the same.
“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,” she explains.
Hindrances
Despite the good intentions, Doty received a lot of criticisms. Even the British Columbian government did not allow Doty to issue their child with a birth certificate without a gender specification. Doty’s application for their child’s birth recognition had come under judicial reviews.
The British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal is yet to hear the case of Doty and 8 more complainants. These people formed a group entitled Gender Free I.D. Coalition that aims to “remove all gender/sex designations from identity documents”.
Alongside Doty, we are waiting for the final say of the government. If affirmative, this gesture would impact so much lives and beliefs all over the world.
What do you think? Should Searyl get a birth certificate without specifying gender? Let us know.
