When Gov. Murphy signed a package of bills on July 3, 2018, New Jersey joined 16 other states that allow residents to change their gender on birth certificates and death records in order to conform to their gender identity without submission of proof of surgery, and joined three other states that include a gender-neutral option on birth certificates.
P.L. 2018, c. 58 requires the state registrar of vital statistics, upon submission of a request, to issue an amended certificate of birth to a person born in New Jersey who submits such request. Under prior law, such amended certificate of birth was only issued upon the receipt of a medical certificate from the applicant’s physician, indicating the person’s gender had been changed through surgery. A person now need only complete a form which affirms under penalty of perjury that the request for a change in gender, including female, male or undesignated/non-binary, is made for the purpose of conforming with that person’s gender identity and not for any fraudulent purpose. The amended certificate will not indicate that it has been amended. The prior record will be sealed and only opened pursuant to a court order or by the person who is the subject of the birth certificate, or the person if a minor, a parent or guardian. For residents of this state who were born elsewhere and such state or foreign jurisdiction requires a court order to amend a birth certificate to reflect a change in gender, a court in New Jersey has jurisdiction to issue such order after ascertaining that the purpose is for conforming with gender identity and not for fraudulent purpose.
