Erasing History and Parental Experiences for Feelings and Wishes

Do Birth Certificate Facts and Truth Still Matter?

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

As of 2024, most states in the US allow youth over age 18 to change their sex and name on their birth certificate without parental permission or notification, literally falsifying the facts of documented history because they want to. Parents have already lost their right to be notified by schools in most US states if their child self-identifies with a gender differing from their natal sex. School educators and staff have the authority to facilitate the social transition of children to non-binary, cross-sex, and other gender identifications without parental consent. The Los Angeles Times shared this news about California’s new law on July 15, 2024: “Newsom signs bill banning schools from notifying parents about student gender identity.”

For me, losing a daughter to trans ideology and medicalization has been hard enough. I can move toward a radical acceptance of the cosmetic surgery alterations of her body and the effects of testosterone that have changed her, but changing her birth certificate to what she wished for or would have preferred is a breach of respect for her parents and a disregard of the truth. In a culture that values “lived experience,” why is a parent’s “lived experience” not included? Why are wishes and feelings more important than biological reality?

The day my daughter was born, there was no ambiguity and no confusion about her sex as female. Her name was lovingly given to her by her father and me, and we chose her middle name in honor of her grandmother. Her birth certificate recorded her female gender and her name along with all the other factual details about her birth. But none of that matters in the culture that says children know best, and whatever kids want must now be granted without parental notification or consent. Affirmation only is the official policy, which means no questioning, no evaluation, no differential diagnosis, no protective safeguards before drugs or surgeries, and no non-invasive treatment options can be presented.

The day my daughter was born, the whole family came together to celebrate her birth and pass her around. Champagne was even brought into my hospital room, and we toasted to her healthy birth. I sent out her birth announcement to all our family and friends, proclaiming, “It’s a Girl!” And this truth existed for three decades until confusion and trans ideology set in, and then she chose to align with activist agendas and change her identity and her documentation.

Even if I don’t like it, people have a right to modify their bodies when they are adults. They can choose to look any way they wish. My daughter’s body is her own to manage as she wants. Her flowing, changing gender journey is hers to navigate. She can pick a new name and request a driver’s license with that name. But it crosses the line when a historical record is altered from the truth of the day of her birth. It crosses the line when she creates a fictional narrative about my day of giving birth to her. Parents matter, and truth matters. But in 2024, activists behind gender ideology and queer theory are getting policies changed so the truth does not matter, facts do not matter, accurate history does not matter, and parental experiences do not matter.

The day my daughter was born, she nursed and slept and was held and doted upon by her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. She was well cared for and loved. Today, she is still loved, even though she has chosen to modify the story of her birth with no respect for the truth, the biological reality of her XX chromosomes, or her parents. She legally obtained a new birth certificate with new details that she chose, and she celebrated this alteration of the facts of her birth on social media and received congratulations on this successful disrespect of me, her mom.

I was not personally told when she picked her new name; I was not consulted before she altered the legal document of her birth certificate. It was all declared on social media for me to discover when she announced these updates publicly to the World Wide Web. (FYI, laws vary by state, but the birth certificate is new, not amended, in the state of her birth.)

Those who believe in gender ideology say parents must affirm, accept, and celebrate their child’s urgent rush to modify their natural body because they adopted a belief system that encourages the drastic alteration of their appearance to sync with their new feelings of being born wrong. The physical body can be purposely changed over and over throughout one’s life, and aging will also alter its appearance. But the line has been crossed now because, in addition to the demands of elective body modifications, which usually include the irreversible destruction of healthy body parts, parents are told they must also accept the falsification of an official medical and historical record.

Readers, are you okay with the erasure of parental history and the historical record, and do you accept that the truth no longer matters? Do you think anyone should be able to change their birth certificate because they want to? If not, then why do states legally allow people to change their gender and other facts of their birth on the legal record? Because that is the reality of 2024.

Perhaps it is time to investigate the laws in your state to understand the extent of acceptance for falsifying historical/medical/hospital birth certificates. If you believe that falsifying records is not best for society, then perhaps it is time to speak out for truth.

Lisa Shultz advocates for truthful and factual birth certificates and also for parents’ and women’s rights. She is deeply concerned about the influence of gender identity ideology and the lack of comprehensive, ethical care for children and vulnerable adults.