When obtaining gender reassignment/plastic surgery overseas, is an emergency travel document required to return home?
I am planning to accompany a friend on an overseas trip, where my friend will be undertaking several medical procedures to finish transitioning gender. These procedures include the actual gender reassignment surgery, and some plastic surgery.
His passport currently says his name is "John" and he is male. After the procedure, my friend's name will legally still be 'John', but her gender will be female, and her physical appear will also change. (Here I am using the word "gender" to refer to external genitalia, body shape, etc.)
Should we apply for an emergency travel document in order to return home, after the procedures are completed, given the discrepancy in appearance and gender with the official passport? Or will it still be possible to return on the original passport, post-operation, if my friend carries extensive documentation about the procedures performed?
(Both of us will be travelling on US passports.)
Best Answer
You will not need an emergency travel document.
First, the US does not have a single concept of "legal sex". Your friend's old passport will be accepted as long as it is valid, although they may have problems if their legal name does not match their passport.
Changing name and gender are two separate processes in the US. In order to change their name, your friend will have to request a name change through a court in their US residence. In order to change their sex listed on their passport, they will have to follow the process the state department has defined, which does not require surgery. This is separate of every other legal gender change process, including birth certificate, driver's license, and employment.
Finally, their gender, and what pronouns you should use for them, is not defined by their genitalia. You should use the pronouns your friend has asked you to use at all times, and not make up your own rules.
Source: personal experience. I traveled to the EU presenting female with the wrong gender and old name on my passport, and have since had experience going to several countries with my updated passport in my new name and with female on my passport.
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Answer 2
Let's see this: Do I need a new photo if my appearance has changed in the passport photo section of the travel.state.gov site. The answer is as follows:
Only if your appearance has significantly changed from what is in your current passport. Growing a beard or coloring your hair would not constitute a significant change. If you can still be identified from the photo in your current passport, you do not need to apply for a new passport.
You may have to apply for a new passport if you have:
Undergone significant facial surgery or trauma
Added or removed numerous/large facial piercings or tattoos
Undergone a significant amount of weight loss or gain
Made a gender transition
My own interpreation is "As long as you still can be identified from the photo in your current passport after gender transition you are fine." My understanding is that unless you do actual facial surgery, a gender transition will not change your face significantly from one minute to the next. That'd be extremely weird, wouldn't it? Sudden face changes happen in movies but in real life, not so much.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Nataliya Vaitkevich, Mikhail Nilov, cottonbro, Cleiton Silva