In a landmark affirmation of identity, dignity, and family, the Kerala High Court has directed authorities to issue a gender-neutral birth certificate listing a transgender couple as “parents”—not “mother” and “father”—of their child, marking a powerful stride in India’s slow but evolving journey toward inclusivity in law.
The ruling came in favor of Zahhad and Ziya Paval, a transgender couple from Kozhikode, who approached the court after municipal officials declined to issue a birth certificate that reflected their lived identities and parental roles. Zahhad, a trans man, had given birth to the couple’s child in 2023—an event that made headlines as a symbol of change, possibility, and courage.
But when bureaucracy met biology, the paperwork lagged behind. The Kozhikode Corporation initially recorded Zahhad as the “mother” and Ziya, a trans woman, as the “father,” contradicting both their gender identities and the couple’s specific request: to be listed jointly, and equally, as “parents.”
A Legal First for Trans Rights and Parenthood
Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A., presiding over the matter, ruled in favor of the couple, citing their fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution—equality and personal liberty—and referencing the Supreme Court’s pivotal NALSA judgment of 2014, which upheld the right of transgender individuals to self-identify their gender.
“The petitioners have chosen to live in accordance with their self-identified gender. Their right to do so must be honored not just in society but also in the documents issued by the State,” the court observed in its order.
In a directive to the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation, the court ordered that the child’s birth certificate be amended to reflect both Zahhad and Ziya as “parents,” dropping all gender-specific nomenclature.
This decision, the first of its kind in the country, is being hailed as a watershed moment in the legal recognition of non-traditional families in India.
Beyond Labels: The Right to Define Family
For Ziya and Zahhad, the case was about far more than bureaucratic correction. “We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking to be seen,” Ziya had said in an earlier interview. “Our child should not grow up seeing us misrepresented on a document as fundamental as a birth certificate.”
Their lawyer, Padma Lakshmi—the state’s first transgender advocate—argued that labeling Zahhad as “mother” solely due to the act of childbirth was a denial of his affirmed identity as a man, and a broader failure of the system to adapt to evolving definitions of family and parenthood.
The High Court’s verdict acknowledges that parenthood, like gender, is no longer binary. It is a role rooted in care, responsibility, and love—not labels.
A Legal Precedent, A Cultural Signal
The judgment is expected to resonate far beyond Kerala. Legal experts say it could pave the way for a new framework in civil documentation that is more inclusive of LGBTQ+ families, single parents, and other non-traditional family structures.
“In recognizing that the law must evolve with lived realities, this judgment does what jurisprudence is supposed to do: reflect the society it serves,” said Rituparna Borah, a queer rights activist and co-founder of Nazariya Foundation.
India, where the 2014 NALSA ruling and the 2018 decriminalization of homosexuality laid early groundwork for transgender rights, still lacks a comprehensive legal framework that fully embraces diverse family models. The Kerala ruling may serve as a catalyst.
For now, a small yet significant step has been taken—not just by the court, but by two parents determined to have their family seen as they are.
Not as anomalies. Not as exceptions. But simply—and powerfully—as a family.
