Current Version
| Region | Estonia |
| Issue | Right to change legal gender |
| Status | Legal, no restrictions |
| Start Date | Apr 6, 1992 |
| End Date | Apr 24, 1997 |
| Description | The first transgender person to change their legal gender in independent Estonia did so on 6 April 1992. This followed a decision by a medical expert committee convened to assess her case. Her birth certificate was corrected on this date, this was viewed as a pre-requisite to any surgery, which would have otherwise been considered mutilation under the law. While gender-affirming surgery was later carried out, it was not a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. The state of affairs was not regulated by law, but others were known to have been given authorization by the same medical expert committee to change their legal data. This was ended in around 1994, since the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of the Interior could not agree on whether surgery should be a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. During that time, legal gender recognition was not possible. This stand-off eventually resulted in the 1997 decree not requiring surgery for legal gender recognition, in exchange for the relevant minister signing off on every transgender person requesting such recognition. |
| Sources | Kalevi alt välja. LGBT+ inimeste lugusid 19. ja 20. sajandi Eestist (in Estonian). Tallinn: Eesti LGBT Ühing. ISBN 978-9916-4-1434-7. |
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Revision History (3)
| Old Value | New Value (Current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Legal, but requires surgery | Legal, no restrictions |
| Start Date | May 7, 1999 | Apr 6, 1992 |
| End Date | Jun 2002 | Apr 24, 1997 |
| Description | The main legislation on gender change is the “General Requirements on Medical Procedures for the Change of Gender” issued by the Minister for Social Affairs (Soovahetuse arstlike toimingute ühtsed nõuded, of 07.05.1999, no 32). This sets out the conditions for changing a person’s legal gender and allowing medical treatment for gender reassignment. It requires: • An application to the Ministry for Social Affairs; • The decision is made by a medical expert committee appointed by the Minister of Social Affairs; • Certification of transsexual identity during at least two years prior to the application; • A psychiatrist’s decision that excludes the possibility that the wish to undergo gender/sex change is caused by psychiatric disorder; • Compatibility of chromosomatic and gonad gender/sex certified by genetic research; • At least two years of treatment must pass from the beginning of medical treatment. At least one year must pass from the positive response from the Minister for Social Affairs to have the right to surgically change gender. If the Person decides otherwise during that year they are not obliged to go ahead with the change of gender. | The first transgender person to change their legal gender in independent Estonia did so on 6 April 1992. This followed a decision by a medical expert committee convened to assess her case. Her birth certificate was corrected on this date, this was viewed as a pre-requisite to any surgery, which would have otherwise been considered mutilation under the law. While gender-affirming surgery was later carried out, it was not a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. The state of affairs was not regulated by law, but others were known to have been given authorization by the same medical expert committee to change their legal data. This was ended in around 1994, since the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of the Interior could not agree on whether surgery should be a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. During that time, legal gender recognition was not possible. This stand-off eventually resulted in the 1997 decree not requiring surgery for legal gender recognition, in exchange for the relevant minister signing off on every transgender person requesting such recognition. |
Show Difference | ||
| Sources | official law : https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/91001 | Kalevi alt välja. LGBT+ inimeste lugusid 19. ja 20. sajandi Eestist (in Estonian). Tallinn: Eesti LGBT Ühing. ISBN 978-9916-4-1434-7. |
Show Difference | ||
Reports (1)
- Status is not correct "This information is correct, since this is the current act regulating legal gender change, in force since May 7, 1999, replacing the previous directive from April 24, 1997. There has never been a requirement for surgery, and since October 2021 no requirement for genetic testing or mandatory hormone therapy. https://www.lgbt.ee/soo-tunnustamine"
| Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Legal, but requires surgery |
| Start Date | May 7, 1999 |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | The main legislation on gender change is the “General Requirements on Medical Procedures for the Change of Gender” issued by the Minister for Social Affairs (Soovahetuse arstlike toimingute ühtsed nõuded, of 07.05.1999, no 32). This sets out the conditions for changing a person’s legal gender and allowing medical treatment for gender reassignment. It requires: • An application to the Ministry for Social Affairs; • The decision is made by a medical expert committee appointed by the Minister of Social Affairs; • Certification of transsexual identity during at least two years prior to the application; • A psychiatrist’s decision that excludes the possibility that the wish to undergo gender/sex change is caused by psychiatric disorder; • Compatibility of chromosomatic and gonad gender/sex certified by genetic research; • At least two years of treatment must pass from the beginning of medical treatment. At least one year must pass from the positive response from the Minister for Social Affairs to have the right to surgically change gender. If the Person decides otherwise during that year they are not obliged to go ahead with the change of gender. |
| Sources | official law : https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/91001 |
Reports (4)
- Status is not correct "This law has never been passed"
- Status is not correct "You can change your gender with only hormones."
- Duplicate entry
- Status is not correct "Surgery is not required. "