Margrét Hauksdóttir, head of Þjóðskrá, says that 13 of the applications have already been processed and that work on a further seven is concluding.

In addition to these 22, a further seven people have applied to change just their name to one previously reserved exclusively for the opposite gender, without changing their legally registered gender.

One of them was the first applicant of all, a farmer who received a lot of media attention as he changed his name from Sigurður Hlynur to Sigríður Hlynur in honour of his grandmother.

The ability to register one’s gender as neutral is delayed for financial reasons: Þjóðskrá needs money to change the registration software but the ministry in charge has yet to allocate funding. Þjóðskrá has a maximum of 18 months in which to implement the change.

Some parents have been speculating about whether it will be possible to register new-born babies with neutral gender. Margrét says the law is not explicit about parents’ rights to register their children’s gender. As the law is about personal freedom and expression (that cannot be decided on someone else's behalf), that may not be possible in Iceland.

According to Landspítali sources, the gender of babies will continue to be registered by medical staff based purely on an external genital examination, as has always been the case.

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