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LEGAL

The Claim

New York State enacted a law that removed the terms "mother" and "father" from New York State birth certificates and replaced them with gender-neutral parental labels.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

New York did not remove “mother” and “father” from state birth certificates. The governing birth-certificate law allows those terms to remain and added “parent” as an additional option. Separate legislation updated gendered terminology in family-court and domestic-relations statutes, but that is not the same as changing birth-certificate labels.

Caveats

  • Do not confuse Family Court Act or Domestic Relations Law amendments with the Public Health Law that governs birth certificates.
  • The relevant birth-certificate change expanded label options by adding “parent”; it did not replace or ban “mother” and “father.”
  • News reports about lawmakers passing gender-neutral terminology bills can be incomplete if they do not distinguish court statutes from vital-records forms.

The Receipts

  1. Senate Bill S7604 (2023-2024): Relates to gender neutral terminology in family court proceedings

    New York State Senate

  2. S7604A Text (as amended) – Gender neutral terminology in family court

    New York State Senate

  3. 2023-A8373 (ACTIVE) - Relates to gender neutral terminology in family court act and domestic relations law

    New York State Senate

  4. Bill S5325B (2021) - Gender Recognition Act

    New York State Senate

  5. 2023-S9329 (ACTIVE) - Relates to gender neutral terminology in family court act and domestic relations law

    New York State Senate

  6. Governor Cuomo Signs the Gender Recognition Act

    Governor of New York

  7. New York Public Health Law § 4132 – Registration of births; duties of physician, midwife, informant, and funeral director

    New York State Senate

  8. Bill A08373 - Relates to gender neutral terminology in family court act and domestic relations law

    New York State Assembly

  9. Senate Bill S4402 (2021-2022): New York State Gender Recognition Act

    New York State Senate

  10. New York Public Health Law § 4103 - Birth certificates: form and registration

    New York State Senate

+ 16 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

New York

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