Sem (29) was in his early twenties when he wanted to have his gender changed in his birth certificate. That was necessary and urgent at that stage in his life, he says. He does not want to be mentioned by surname, but that is known to the editors.
“I studied and then lived in rooms, men among each other. But I still got mail with my old name on it. I was very afraid that my housemates would see that name. I also wanted my diploma to show the correct gender. especially in connection with applying afterwards. I didn’t feel comfortable having to be accountable to anyone. “
Sem did not know that legal gender reassignment required sterilization at the time. “I had bad feelings when I discovered that. I thought: ‘This is not correct, why is this allowed in the Netherlands?’. As if you are a second-class citizen, are not good enough to procreate you. don’t dare to go out, because I don’t ge-out wanted to become transgender. “
‘No choice at all’
Nevertheless, he decided to continue the adjustment in his birth certificate. “If your ID does not match who you are, then you can experience a lot of problems. In my opinion I had no choice at all not to have myself sterilized. I was not busy with a desire to have children. I was busy with my study and can live with full life. “
Sterilization took place in 2013. Sem then fell into a deep depression, partly because the Transgender Act was amended on July 1, 2014. Mandatory sterilization was then scrapped. “Had I waited a little longer, I would have been spared it. There was also no communication that the law would change. If I had known it was coming, I would never have had the sterilization done.”
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