From 1 November babies born in Germany without clear gender-determining characteristics will be able to be registered

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Germany will become the first country in Europe to join a small group of nations which recognise a third or "undetermined" sex when registering births, according to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

From 1 November, babies born in Germany without clear gender-determining physical characteristics will be able to be registered without a sex on their birth certificates, according to the report.

The change is being seen as the country's first legal acknowledgment that it is possible for a human to be neither male nor female – which could have far-reaching consequences in many legal areas.

Transsexuals – people born of one gender who feel they belong to the other and wish to be recognised as such – are already legally recognised in Germany.

Those with both male and female genitalia have always been forcibly registered as one or other sex at birth.

The German decision to recognise a third gender was based on a recommendation by the constitutional court, which sees legal recognition of a person's experienced and "lived" gender as a personal human right.

People of "undetermined" sex will be allowed at any point throughout their lives to identify themselves as one or other sex and register the change on their birth certificates. Alternatively, they may also choose to keep their gender undefined.

While lawyers have rejected the idea that legislators intended to create a third legal gender with the law change, some are arguing that in practise, anyone registered as "undetermined sex" will in future have to be given their own separate defacto status in legal matters.

• This article was amended on 20 August 2013. The word "hermaphrodite" was removed as it was inconsistent with the spirit of Guardian editorial guidelines.