Physician's Certification Letter
About
General Information
To update your gender marker on legal documents, some documents require a statement signed by a physician stating that the applicant has undergone a successful gender change
- You may use a certain type of physician's statement to update your gender marker on some legal documents if you do not have a court order.
- To update your gender marker on your Louisiana birth certificate, you will need to obtain a certified court order recognizing your updated gender. A physician's statement will not be accepted for updating your birth certificate.
- Consult an attorney or speak with a community advocate if you have specific questions or need more assistance navigating the process to change your gender marker on any document you choose to update
- Currently, Louisiana does not provide a non-binary option for gender markers. This means you may only update your legal documents from a male to a female or from a female to a male
- Unfortunately, at present, the only gender marker options on identity documents issued by the US federal government (Social Security cards, passports, green cards, etc.) are “male” and “female.” The Biden administration is working on adding a non-binary option to passports.
List of legal documents that accept a physician's statement to update your gender marker in Louisiana:
- Drivers license
- Social security card
- Passport (Note: As of June 30th, 2020 - an applicant for a U.S. passport can simply check "M" or "F" as their gender – without needing to provide medical certification (also called a signed physcian's statement) if that gender doesn't match their other documents)
- Immigration documents
- Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)
Obtaining & Submitting your letter
Who Can Write a Letter to Certify Appropriate Treatment?
- You will need a letter signed by a licensed physician with whom you have a doctor-patient relationship and who is familiar with your transition-related treatment. This may be any physician who is familiar with your treatment, including a primary care physician or specialist.
- If you receive your primary care from someone who is not a physician (not an MD or DO), the supervising licensed physician must sign this letter. Signatures from other types of medical providers, such as psychologists, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners, are not acceptable.
What Should the Physician Certification Include?
The State Department policy provides model language for signed physician statements. The statement must be on the physician’s office letterhead and include all of the information seen here, including the physician’s license or certificate number. In general, here is an example of how to draft a signed physician's statement for your gender marker update:
PHYSICIAN LETTERHEAD
I, Physician’s Full Name, Physician’s medical license or certificate number, Issuing U.S. State/Foreign Country of medical license/certificate, am the physician of Name of Patient, Date of Birth of Patient, with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whom I have treated (or with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whose medical history I have reviewed and evaluated).
Name of Patient has had appropriate clinical treatment for transition to (specify male or female).
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true and correct.
Signature of Physician
Typed Name
Address
Phone
Date
📃 Create your letter with this app: Physician's Certification Letter for Transitioning Invididuals
Additional tips: Ask your physician to sign this letter in blue ink so the State Department can tell it is an original signature. Also, ask for multiple original copies so you can keep extras just in case!