Germany: Babies can be registered as neither sex

A new law has gone into effect allowing German parents to register their newborn babies as neither male nor female if they were born with traits of both sexes, according to AP. The German Parliament in January approved the law that went into effect Friday. The German Ethics Council, an advisory group, had urged the change to take the pressure off parents to make a hasty decision and possibly commit to surgery immediately after birth, the dpa news agency reported. The council had argued, among other things, that many people born with both sex characteristics who were operated on as children say they wouldn't have consented to the surgery. Parents had previously been required by law to register their children's name and gender within one week with authorities.