More than 700 Belgians changed gender in 2018
In 2018, 727 Belgians changed their gender, according to figures from the National Register. A year earlier, this number was 110. The increase was mainly due to a change in the legislation.
Since January 1, 2018, it is no longer necessary to have a surgery of the genitals to certify this officially.
Previously, a doctor’s medical certificate was required to be able to fill in the application.
Between 2010 and 2014, the number of people who changed gender varied between 40 and 70 per year. Then that number rose to 81 in 2015, 100 in 2016, and 110 in 2017.
The increase observed last year could also be explained by the highly publicized case, especially in the north of the country, of the VTM journalist, Bo Van Spilbeek, but also by other factors such as the film about a transgender person, ‘Girl’, which perhaps stimulated people to take action.
