Groundbreaking Victory for Trans People in Bulgaria

Our legal consultant Natasha Dobreva won a case for recognizing the gender of a trans parent.

The decision of the court is final and the Municipality is obliged to execute it. This means that the municipality must issue a new birth certificate to the parent. But it also means that it must issue a new birth certificate to the child that includes two same-sex parents. This can be done without legislative change.

The Civil Registration Act states in general that the birth certificate specifies the "parents" and there is no requirement to indicate their gender. In order for this new court decision to be implemented, only the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works needs to intervene - it approves the samples of birth certificates in Bulgaria. Basic changes are needed in an ordinance issued by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works in order to guarantee the right to inherit the children of trans parents. And so that the now existing words "mother" and "father" can be dropped from the Bulgarian birth certificates.