Transgendered man deceived wife for 17 years with home made penis
A female-to-male transgendered person who made his own penis did not tell his wife of 17 years that he was born a woman lost his parental rights to his wife’s daughter at the Court of Appeal earlier today.
The man referred to as Mr J, is legally considered to be a male following the 2004 Gender Recognition Act that allows a transgendered people to legally take on a different sexual identity to their birth and can therefore marry someone of the same birth sex.
However, the three appeal court judges found that at the time of Mr J’s marriage to Mrs C, he was legally considered to be a woman (as the act is not retrospective) and that the marriage in 1977 was therefore unlawful.
Mrs C has a 14 year old daughter who was conceived with artificial insemination by an anonymous donor. As Mr J was not legally married to Mrs C at the time of the conception, he can not be legally considered the father of the child.
Mr J concealed the fact that he was not born a man from his wife for the duration of their 17 year marriage through the use of home made penis that he used during sex.
Mr J is believed to have been born with gender dysmorphia and underwent hormone treatment and had his breasts removed before he met Mrs C, although he had not completed a full sex change before their marriage collapsed.
Lord Justice Ward described the marriage as a “travesty” adding that people would find it astonishing that Mrs C did not realise that he husband was born a woman.
The court ordered that neither party should be identified to protect the 14 year old and an elder child. Mrs C will consult with a psychiatrist before explaining the truth of her now nullified marriage to them.
