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.

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. Parents had previously been required by law to register their children's name and gender within one week with authorities. (AP)