South Carolina S 162: Vital Statistics - Changes to Birth Certificates

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 162 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 14, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 162

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 44-63-100, RELATING TO THE PROCESS THROUGH WHICH A PERSON MAY MAKE 
CHANGES TO HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT GENDER CHANGES TO A 
PERSON'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE MAY ONLY BE TO CHANGE FROM MALE TO FEMALE OR FROM 
FEMALE TO MALE, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND TIMING LIMITATIONS OF 
GENDER CHANGES.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 44-63-100 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
44-63-100. (A) For the purposes of this section:

 (1) "Gender" means the biological 
indication of male and female in the context of reproductive potential or 
capacity such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and 
nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth.

 (2) "Gender change" means a change to 
the gender listed on the birth certificate:

 (a) to correct a clerical error in 
recording the gender; or

 (b) made within twelve months of the 
date of birth due to an individual being born with a medically verifiable 
disorder of sex development, including an individual with external biological 
sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous, such as an individual born 
with forty-six XX chromosomes with virilization, forty-six XY chromosomes with 
undervirilization, or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.

 (B) A petition may be filed in 
the South Carolina family court of petitioner's residence, or if petitioner no 
longer resides in South Carolina, in a court of competent jurisdiction in the 
state of petitioner's residence, for an order establishing a record of the name 
at birth, subsequent name changes, gender at birth, gender changes, date of 
birth, county of birth, and the full name of the mother prior to any marriages, 
and the full name of the biological father of the person whose birth is sought 
to be registered by way of a Delayed Certificate of Birth Established by Court 
Order.

 (B)(C) The petition must allege that the person for whom a 
delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this State, that no record 
of birth exists, and that the petitioner has failed to produce the minimum 
required documentation to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics for an 
administrative establishment of a delayed birth certificate. A certification 
from the State Registrar of Vital Statistics must be attached to the petition 
stating that no birth record has been located in the records of this State. 
This certification must be dated less than two years before the petitions' 
filing date.

 (C)(D) The petitioner shall serve a certified copy of the 
filed petition on the State Registrar of Vital Statistics at least thirty days 
before a scheduled hearing. The court shall fix the time and place of the 
hearing on the petition for establishment of birth registration, and at least 
ten days' notice in writing must be given to the State Registrar of Vital 
Statistics.

 (D)(E) The court shall determine, and the order must include, 
the registrant's name at birth, subsequent name changes, gender at birth, 
gender changes, the date of birth, the county of birth, the full name of the 
mother prior to any marriages, the full name of the biological father, and 
additional findings as the court considers necessary. The order also must 
include a description of the evidence presented to the court. The order must 
be forwarded by the clerk of court to the State Registrar no later than thirty 
days following the month in which the order was entered by the court.

SECTION 2. The 
Department of Public Health shall promulgate regulations necessary to implement 
the provisions of this act.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 14, 2025 at 12:33 PM