Japan - this seems harsh

What do the couple want the birth certificate to say. Because the article says they can't be recognised as the child's parent.
Do they want to be recognised as mother and the law won't allow this - which would be the same as this country I believe, for TW parents?

Do they want to be recognised as "parent" but this isn't an option on the birth certificate?

Are they able to be recognised as father, but they don't want that? Or is that not possible either because of a "computer says no" issue of not being able to have someone legally female be registered as a father?

Or is the law literally saying that trans people cannot be on birth certificates, as an ideological thing?

I can't believe Japan doesn't recognise same sex marriage though!!

It's really important in Japan for family records to be kept, they're incredibly careful to make sure they're accurate. They track all people so won't make any changes that night cause confusion. I don't think they'd let this person be registered as you need either a mother and/or father, there's no parent option. They can't be the mother as there is already a mother, and they can't be the father because their legal sex is now female and females can't be fathers.

Japan is a conservative country. Homophobia, sexism and racism are rife. There is still an expectation for women to give up work once they marry.

Although I am sure it is distressing for the parents I am sure it won't be a surprise to them.

It sounds like a situation where the admin hasn't kept up with allowing people to lie on legal documents. I'm assuming that one parent is listed as father, and that fathers have to be male. It doesn't sound ideological, just an oversight.

On a side note, I do hate the way that having a post-surgical definition of TW, who could then be legally female, is being presented as TW being forced to have surgery and sterilised. It's as if the documentation is the end goal and always has been, so weird.

The article doesn't actually say they can't be registered as the father. I think you need to be either father or mother, don't you?

That is unfair. They ought to be allowed to be registered as the father.

I wonder what the rule is for children born to an unmarried couple? (As it seems it might be relevant that same-sex marriage isn't legal there)

Or for children born using a sperm donor?

They should be registered accurately as the father.