Legal transition

Some steps that may be taken in terms of legal transition from one gender to another:

• Changing the listed sex on a birth certificate
• Changing the listed sex on a driving license or learner's permit
• Changing the listed sex on a passport
• Changing the listed sex on various other identity cards or miscellaneous governmental records, such as (in some countries) insurance records, or (in the U.S.) Social Security card
• Having a marriage license with the person's proper gender on it
• Being listed as either a father or mother, as appropriate, of the person's child(ren)
• A legal name change, and changes of all the documents on which the name appears

Some of these steps may not be applicable to particular people, and some are not possible in certain areas, or somehow restricted; for example, many U.S. states require proof of "irreversible sex change surgery" for a legal change to be made "valid." In some places, people are flat-out not allowed to change their birth certificates or other records — period.

Dealings with the law are often expensive and tiresome, and some don't even turn out to be fruitful. Unless you'd like to advocate for legal change, however, there is often little you can do in such matters. I'm providing this information as a means of clarification, but I don't have many suggestions for dealing with these specific circumstances, beyond the ever-useful "Be supportive and respectful."