A court in Italy has authorised changes to the legal sex and name of a 13-year-old, making the child the youngest person in the country to receive such a ruling.
The Tribunal of La Spezia issued the decision after a request filed by the child’s parents. It is the first known case in Italy in which a court has approved changes to civil records for someone of this age.
The case concerns a pair of twins born female. According to court documents, one of the two began during childhood to distance herself from her biological sex, gradually adopting what were described as more masculine traits. The parents asked the court to alter the child’s official records to reflect this change, and judges ruled in their favour.
In its reasoning, the court said the adolescent had developed a clear and settled belief that her body did not correspond to how she experienced her identity. Judges wrote that the teenager had shown sufficient awareness and discernment to proceed with a legal step intended to bring lasting alignment between body and identity, despite her young age.
The process leading to the ruling began in 2021 at Careggi Hospital, where the child was followed by a specialist medical team. As part of the treatment, triptorelin was prescribed to halt normal pubertal development while the pathway continued.
The ruling prompted criticism from the family advocacy group Pro Vita & Famiglia. Its spokesperson, Jacopo Coghe, said Italian law does not consider a 13-year-old mature enough to consent to a tattoo, yet allows court-approved changes to sex registration following hormone treatment. He described the decision as “madness” and said his organisation would campaign for changes to the law to prevent minors from undergoing similar processes.
The case has drawn attention nationwide, both for the age of the child involved and for the court’s willingness to approve such changes at an early stage of adolescence.
Commentator Francesca Totolo also reacted on X, writing: “At 13 years old, you can’t drive, vote, get a tattoo, drink alcohol, etc., but a judge can authorize your gender change with the parents’ agreement.”
