Overview
- The Selbstbestimmungsgesetz, which took effect on 1 November 2024, lets people change their official gender entry and forenames by filing a declaration at their local registry office instead of submitting expert reports or going to court.
- Federal Statistical Office data show more than 30,000 registry changes since the law began, with Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern recording over 600 and just 4,620 changes in the first seven months of 2026.
- Usage peaked in the two months after the law started, then fell through 2025 and into 2026 as local registries in places such as Rostock, Greifswald, Hamburg and seven Thüringen cities reported far fewer cases than in the initial surge.
- The 2025 breakdown of recorded changes was concentrated in moves from female to male (42 percent), male to female (27 percent) and shifts into the ‚divers‘ category (29 percent combined), illustrating varied directions of demand.
- A high‑profile case involving Marla Svenja Liebich prompted state justice ministers to ask the federal government for stricter checks to prevent misuse, and authorities may now consider legislative adjustments to the procedure.