Gender reassignment - how to show in Legacy?
Hi, I have an interesting problem - well interesting to me I guess.
I have a nephew who is now a niece. He/She was born a male and has gender reassignment surgery etc.
How do I record this in Legacy? At the moment I have him recorded as a male by his birth name, date etc.
Cannot work out how to record this individual in my database.
I am sorry if there are members in our Community are not comfortable with me bringing up a discussion on this topic, but for me it is a genuine genealogical dilemma.
Am hoping someone out there may have a idea about how to record this.
I think there's an option to make the gender "unknown", but that doesn't seem like the best solution, since she is legally and physically ((for the most part) a woman. Maybe you could add a new event and new fact. I'd make a new fact called alt-gender and a new event for the sex change. Add the event with the date, add the fact with the gender, then set the new gender to the preferred one (I think you do that by swapping them). The best solution would be if you could add dates to the gender, like male bet whenever and whenever, then female at date-of-change. I think this is something more and more genealogists will have to deal with soon enough, so software developers will need to address it, along with same-sex marriages and made-up surnames that the couples sometimes create when they marry.
ReplyDeleteI find it a fascinating dilemma.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I am not sure any of the software developers will be addressing this anytime soon. Many are of the opinion that genealogy is a bit different than family history. I have heard this argument for a number of years from developers, and users for years have come up with totally creative methods to record their family history AND genealogy in data bases that have to be tricked.
I think Sue Caldwell has some good suggestions to start with, the use of AKA names will be helpful. I think I might consider using the male birth name as the "other" name, and the female gender change name as the "main" name. I am assuming (wow, I hate that word/action, but here we go) that she will die with her new female name and that death records and such will reflect that name. For me, I would want that to be the "main" name in my data base, as we always start from the death and work towards the birth (supposedly anyway).
Lots of notes will help. Explain all the issues, explain the dates.
Good luck. Let us know what you settle on. I am sure we can learn something from your dilemma. Thanks.
John H You got some great suggestions and I agree this is an question which I am sure other genealogists and family historians will have in the future as well. I know the question of how to input same sex couples has come up and requires a work around.
ReplyDeleteAs people are encouraged to use their genealogy software (databases) programs (or whatever we are supposed to call them!) for more than the simple data entry of names, dates and "facts," I think the programs that are coded to provide flexibility will win the day (as far as users are concerned).
Great question John H and very helpful answers Sue Caldwell and Carol Stevens.
I think you've gotten some good suggestions, John. I certainly would handle this delicately in your own tree. But I would probably use the preferred gender/name as my preferred facts and make notes and/or use an alternative name/gender fact to record the birth information. Either way, you'll want to document the name/gender change for future researchers, but for now, you can always make the note private, as well as the alternate name/gender, in order to protect the privacy of the individual. That way you're the only one who knows about the change until you are ready to make it more public. Unless of course, it's okay with the individual.
ReplyDeleteExcellent add Karin Coppernoll - privacy concerns and the individual's permission!!
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks everyone. I knew I could rely on the community for some help with this curly one!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure there is any secrecy about this event. I have been somewhat estranged from my brother and his family for many years, also from my parents as well. So I have not seen my nephew/niece for many years, certainly not since the change.
It is further complicated by the fact that he/she has a child from a former relationship when he was still a male.
I have been in contact with my brother in the last few days, and now plan to visit them. They live in another state, but I am going there in late July to visit a friend, so I will call in on my brother on the way.
Not going to be an easy "reunion", and not sure how I will handle meeting my new "niece". As a boy he was my favourite nephew out of the two I guess. Interesting times ahead!
All those aspects that made this family member a favourite are still there in that person, but I am guessing she is more at peace with herself. Be sure to pack an open mind and a compassionate heart and you will have a good trip. And thanks for the question as I am sure others may have this come up in the future.
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