Passport error? More of WWYD?

[SundaySalon]

I booked some flights last night to go away with a friend in the summer and noticed that my passport has sex down as male ... I am female.

I looked on the .Gov website and cant seem to find a section advising on what to do in this situation, everything on gender changes said I would need medical certificates. Called them earlier but was on hold and had to go and collect DS.

I have booked the flights under this passport number, it dosen't run out for years yet. I really dont want to have to pay for a new passport, do you think if the nice people at the airport notice they will stop me boarding the flight? Would you risk it and hope they were as unobservant as me?
Or even better if anyone knows how I would go about getting it fixed without ordering a new passport...

Have you had gender reassignment surgery or is it just an error? I would go and get a new passport or a corrected passport.

My DM was turned away at the boarding gate (got through security and passport control without any problems) for having a slight tear on one page of her passport. She had a very stressful few days trying to get an emergency replacement and missed half of her holiday.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118560/preventing-resolving-errors.pdf

Quickest to go to the issuing office.

I wonder if they'd challenge your gender anyway if all the other info added up in todays gender neutral society...

Have you flown on this passport before? Has it ever been a problem before?

This happened with my driving licence. In 29 years I had not noticed a spelling error with my first name! I just had to provide a covering letter to explain my lack of observation and was not charged for replacement.

If you have flown on it before it obviously wasn't noticed, but it only takes one person to notice and you may be turned away, or detained. They could for instance think that your passport was faked. They could be double checking all male passports because of a security threat and come across yours. I'd get it sorted.

We noticed once that we'd been nodded through passport control on one another's passports ...

The obvious thing to do would be to phone the passport office surely?

I haven't had surgery. I have flown on it before, not a lot though and always to the same place. I am surprised the UK airports haven't picked up on it to be fair, the place I fly to literally glance down at it.

Thats my worry, that I will be stopped when I get to the other country. My friend said that they might not question it even if they did notice because they cannot be sure I am not male?...

Thanks for the link, I will have a look now.

Yeah that the obvious thing to do, just don't want them to make me pay for a new one. I am fairly sure that I wouldn't have ticked the male box on the form, I had to send off marriage certificate too. Just wondering if it is their error would they fix it.

When I got a new passport for DS it had a mistake in the name (my shoddy handwriting perhaps although they obviously had birth certificate etc.). After chatting to them on the phone it had to be sent recorded delivery, the original agent who issued the passport then issued a new one. It was identical so same passport numbers. There was no charge and it took less than a week.

My friend was in a similar position. They reissued it free of charge after she rang them. Only took a few days.

Thank you! Will call them tomorrow.

Or... you can become a man for the holiday and avoid having to wax! ;-)

It's an error, Passport Office are very reasonable and will fix it.

You have provided your birth certificate so it is their mistake