2025 update
If you need to amend your name or gender marker on a Social Security number assigned at birth, the Trump Administration is taking steps to ban this option.
Do not mail an application or supporting documents to Social Security. Make an appointment and go in person to the nearest large city with a Social Security office. You may still be denied.
Notes from readers
While some applicants have had success changing their Social Security gender designation without incident, others, especially those who have not undergone vaginoplasty or orchiectomy, have had to try at another office at a later date. One reader writes in 2013:
I would like to share my experience in having my gender mark changed with SSA without having SRS completed. This was accomplished here in Texas so if done here it should give hope being that Texas is such a conservative area to live. It began with having my legal name change as is always the first step. Once that was completed I drove directly over to SSA to get my new card. The first time I tried I was rejected and told that I would need an SRS letter from a surgeon specifying the procedure as well as having my name and DOB. The mistake I made is that I specified to the lady handling my case what I was there for. She had no idea how to handle this and spent a great deal of time looking up the info. She finally had to ask a suoervisor what the process was. She came back and told me that I needed a letter regardless of what my court order stated. I was completely shattered and heartbroken not to mention a bit humiliated because of they way she responded once she knew I was transgendered. This all happened in San Antonio, Texas. I thought it being a much more populated area things like this were more common and wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. I was COMPLETELY wrong! I drove home with my tail tucked between my legs thinking of how I would ever get this accomplished. I regrouped for a day and tried to think of a new approach. This time I would go to DPS first, get the F on my license then SSA without saying a word about gender or anything. I downloaded the SS5 form from SSA, filled it out at home(of course checking the female box) them headed to SSA. I dressed in conservative professional business like manner and headed up there around noon. I gave the lady my forms engaging in small chit chat, she looked over them while inputting the info. She handed me a paper with everything she had input and asked if everything was correct. I immediately scan down and see that she has me listed as female. Can’t remember if it was f or said female either way I confirmed and she handed me a receipt. I did this in the city of Abilene,Tx which is a very conservative area of Texas. What I learned from this process is that it doesn’t matter where you go its more the luck of the draw of who you end up getting to review your documentation. I believe the most important factors that helped me were, having documentation stating I am female(drivers license) and presenting myself in a conservative business like dress/makeup attire. It may not work the first time but try,try and try again because it could just be the person you are dealing with. Just hold yourself in a confident professional manner and it will work out. Good Luck and hope this helps out.
From a reader who was interested in maximizing her privacy:
I wanted to cover an issue you do not currently address. Stealth and your Social Security Number. Maximum stealth would require a new ss# as well as new first and last names. Most people are unable to change their ss#.
Even if first & last names are changed, using the same ss# can lead to discrepancies that can come back to haunt you years later. Let me share just a couple of ways this has happened to a friend of mine. When opening a new bank account, the banks run a social security trace. This a background check to see if other names are or have been associated with your number. Immediately after opening a new checking account my friend’s bank was putting extended holds on her deposits & treating her weird. She assumes that the bank thought she might try some kind of theft like writing bad/fraudulent checks. Another example, she recently had lab results come back to her new physician for a minor skin biopsy. The lab report that came back had incorrect name and sex information identifying her as a male, since they had a preexisting entry for that ss# already in their system from years earlier using information from another doctor. Both the bank and the doctor’s office kept the discrepancy to themselves, but they treated her differently from that point onward. Obviously this is not desirable.
If you can’t change your number, then you can minimize using it. I have noticed that preventative measures to prevent identity theft simultaneously maximize your privacy and minimize your history outing you. As identity theft is a generally known problem, any request you make that is consistent with prevention will be considered reasonable. Restrict your ss# to a “need to know” basis. Only your employer, accountant, bank, investment broker, and IRS need your ss#. Insist that all others use an alternative number for identification or enrollment. Don’t write or print your number on checks. Do not allow your number to be used in on your insurance card or student id card. Insist that insurance companies and schools to use an alternate number for identifying you.