The following Article 61-5 was added to the Civil Code:
Any adult, or emancipated minor, who demonstrates through a sufficient collection of facts that the mention of their sex in civil status records does not correspond to the sex in which they present themselves and by which they are known, may request its modification.
The main examples of such facts, which can be proven by any means, may include:
1° That they publicly present themselves as belonging to the claimed sex;
2° That they are recognized as the claimed sex by their family, friends, or professional circle;
3° That they have obtained a change of their first name so that it corresponds to the claimed sex;
This represents a major step forward, since irreversible physiological modification is no longer required.
Indeed, before the law of November 18, 2016, under Article 99 of the Civil Code, when, following a medical-surgical treatment, a person no longer exhibits the characteristics of their original sex and has taken on the appearance of the other sex, and this sex change is irreversible, the principle of respect for private life justified that civil status now indicates the sex in which the person appears (Cass Ass Plén, 11 Dec 1992, B n°13).
Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights recognized transsexualism, ruling that refusals to a person declared male by the civil registrar, who had undergone an operation resulting in the irreversible removal of the external signs of their original sex, constitute a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, relating to respect for private life (ECHR 25 Mar 1992, van Oosterwick/Belgium, Series A, n°40).
A person who has irreversibly changed sex, in addition to the civil status sex change, may also obtain their first name change.
It will be up to them to instruct a lawyer to bring the case before the Tribunal de grande instance to obtain the civil status change.
In family law, lawyers have observed an increase in such litigation over recent years.
Maître Laurence Mayer, a lawyer in Paris, assists clients following a sex change or in disputes related to transsexualism.
Maître Mayer practices in all courts in Île-de-France, such as Nanterre, Créteil, Bobigny, Meaux, Melun, Fontainebleau, Évry, Sens, Auxerre, and throughout France with a local representative.
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