Transgender Act: Sterilisation Requirement Abolished

On 1 July 2014, the law that became known as the Transgender Act came into force. Since then, anyone wishing to change the sex designation on their birth certificate has no longer been required to undergo medical treatment.

What changed

Under the 1985 law, the body had to be physically altered and the applicant had to be permanently infertile. Both requirements were abolished. Going to court was no longer necessary either: the change is requested from the civil registrar.

The new requirements

Applicants must be at least sixteen years old and submit a statement from a designated doctor or psychologist. The statement must confirm that the applicant is convinced that they belong to the other sex, that this conviction is permanent and that they understand the consequences.

Why the requirements were abolished

The government no longer considered the old requirements justifiable. According to the explanatory memorandum, making an irreversible medical procedure a condition for legal recognition violated the right to bodily integrity. The same principle is reflected in the Yogyakarta Principles. In 2020, the government apologised to people who had undergone surgery under the old law in order to change their registration, and introduced financial compensation.

The practical consequences

The number of changes increased sharply after the law was introduced. Under the old law, around eighty people a year changed their sex registration; in the years after 2014, the figure was several hundred a year. Some of them had been living in their desired gender for a long time but had not wanted the surgery or could not undergo it for medical reasons. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds also made use of the new option.

Parenthood

Because infertility is no longer a requirement, someone who is legally male can give birth to a child, and someone who is legally female can father a child. The law provides that the person who gives birth is legally the mother. This rule has led to legal proceedings brought by transgender men who wanted to be listed as the father on their child's birth certificate. More information is available on the page about parenthood after transition.

The evaluation and what followed

The law was evaluated three years after it came into force. The researchers recommended abolishing the expert statement and lowering the age limit: the statement would create unnecessary costs and barriers, while an expert cannot genuinely assess someone’s inner conviction. In 2021, the government submitted a bill that followed this approach. The bill sparked considerable public debate, including about the consequences for gender-segregated facilities and the position of minors.

Significance

The Netherlands was not alone in taking this step. In 2012, Argentina became the first country to introduce a law under which the applicant’s own declaration is sufficient, and Denmark followed in 2014 as the first European country. In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a country may not make sterilisation a requirement. The Netherlands chose a middle ground: no medical intervention, but still a statement from an expert. The fact that applicants must pay for the statement themselves and that the expert cannot genuinely assess their conviction has since been the main point of criticism from advocacy organisations.

This law separated legal recognition from the medical process. Since then, the debate has focused on whether the expert statement and the age limit should also be abolished. The current situation is set out on the pages about the Transgender Act and changing sex registration.