Eighteen years on from the Gender Recognition Act 2004, the law still struggles to reflect the lived reality of some transgender parents and their children.
For many families, birth registration is not simply an administrative step. It is the first formal legal recognition of a child’s parents and can affect identity, parental responsibility, inheritance, travel, medical decisions and day-to-day family life. Where the law does not reflect a family’s reality, parents can be left navigating a difficult and deeply personal legal position.
This article considers how the current legal framework affects transgender parents, why recent case law has exposed uncertainty in birth registration, and what legal options may be available for families who need advice about parental status or parental responsibility.
The challenges facing transgender parents
At a recent Resolution Modern Families Forum conference, I had the privilege of hearing Jacob Stockoe, Ryan Sanderson and Carlos Muñez speak about their lived experiences as transgender parents within the current legal landscape.
Science has moved on significantly since 2004, and a wider range of family structures is now medically possible in ways that were not envisaged when the Gender Recognition Act was passed. Jacob and Ryan both spoke about their experiences as “seahorse dads”: transgender men who had begun medically transitioning but were still able to carry and give birth to their children.
Despite being the fathers of their children, they cannot currently be recognised as fathers on their children’s birth certificates if they are the person who carried and gave birth to the child. Even where a transgender man has a Gender Recognition Certificate and is legally recognised as male, the law may still require him to be registered for birth registration purposes as the child’s ‘mother’.
What does the recent case law mean for transgender parents?
In the case of Carlos, despite being married to the mother of his children and being their father in all but name, he had his registration put in jeopardy by a case in the High Court, FZ v MZ ([2025] EWHC 3338 (Fam)).
FZ v MZ asked the High Court to consider the interaction between the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The tension arises because the Gender Recognition Act provides that the acquisition of a Gender Recognition Certificate does not affect a person’s status as the mother or father of a child. The HFEA 2008 can allow a second legal parent to be registered in some circumstances, but it was not drafted with every modern family structure in mind. For some transgender men, this can create a legal gap: their Gender Recognition Certificate recognises them as male, but the statutory framework may still prevent them from being registered as father in circumstances where parentage rules treat the person who gave birth as mother.
Carlos was initially registered as his child’s father on the birth certificate, but the decision undermines that registration and highlights the uncertainty that may affect other transgender parents in similar circumstances.
For fathers whose children’s birth registrations may be affected by FZ v MZ, practitioners have had to consider difficult alternative routes to secure legal recognition. In some cases, this may involve a declaration of non-parentage followed by adoption, so that a transgender father can obtain legal recognition as an adoptive parent of his own biological child. Although this may provide a route through the current framework, it raises serious questions about whether the birth registration system is suitable for the diversity of modern family life.
It is reported that more than one per cent of parents giving birth in NHS hospitals do not identify as women. Some are transgender, some are non-binary, and some may be intersex. Although these parents remain a minority, their experiences are significant. As science develops and social understanding of diverse families grows, legal professionals are increasingly required to consider how birth registration can be accommodated within our legal, medical and social systems.
The Gender Recognition Act was written at a time when it was widely assumed that transgender men would not be able to carry and give birth to a child after beginning medical transition. Advances in science and lived experience have shown that this assumption is no longer accurate.
What legal options are available to transgender parents?
That being said, there are legal options available to trans parents if they want to try and protect and recognise their legal rights as parents. These include adoption orders, child arrangements orders, parental responsibility orders, and parentage orders.
The most appropriate order or application in your circumstances will depend on your family structure and arrangement.
These issues can be legally complex and emotionally sensitive. Early advice can help parents understand their position, identify the most appropriate application and take steps to protect their relationship with their child.
How can Pinney Talfourd help?
Understanding your legal rights as a parent can be particularly challenging when the law does not fully reflect your family circumstances.
Our experienced Family team can provide clear, sensitive and practical advice on birth registration, legal parentage, parental responsibility and the options available to protect your relationship with your child.
Whether you are a transgender parent, prospective parent or family member seeking guidance, we are here to help you understand your legal position and make informed decisions.
For further advice, contact your nearest Pinney Talfourd office on 0800 011 1195 or email .
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