I am fortunate; I am able to change my gender marker on everything–my birth certificate, social security card, and driver’s license–with a notarized letter from my surgeon. Instead of issuing a new birth certificate, many states will issue an amended birth certificate, with the original sex designation and/or name crossed out and the updated information written in the margins; some other states refuse to alter the sex on birth certificates at all.
I waited until after my chest surgery to change my name legally. This allowed me to change both the name and the gender on these documents simultaneously, saving me money and time.
This section recounts the steps I took to update the sex and name on a few major documents. It does not yet include my birth certificate, since I haven’t yet changed it. It also doesn’t include information for changing a passport. I have never had one, so (should I ever need one), I will simply apply for a new passport with the correct information.