## Facts

- A husband petitioned for a decree of nullity after marrying the respondent in Gibraltar in 1963.
- The respondent was registered male at birth, later underwent genital surgery in 1960, and lived socially as a woman.
- The husband knew before the marriage that the respondent had been registered male at birth and had undergone surgery.
- The relationship ended shortly after the ceremony, and the parties separated.
- The husband alleged the marriage was void because the respondent was legally male at the time of the ceremony; alternatively, he alleged non-consummation due to incapacity or wilful refusal.
- The court heard extensive medical evidence concerning chromosomal pattern, gonads, genital anatomy at birth, the effects of surgery, and psychological identity.

## Issues

1. How legal sex is determined for purposes of capacity to marry.
2. Whether the marriage was void because the respondent was legally male at the time of the ceremony.
3. If necessary, whether the marriage was void or voidable for non-consummation due to incapacity or wilful refusal.

## Decision

- The court held that, for purposes of marriage, legal sex is fixed at birth and determined by chromosomal, gonadal, and genital factors present at birth.
- Post-birth surgical intervention and psychological or social factors (including gender identity and lived role) were not legally relevant to determining sex for marriage.
- On the evidence, the respondent was legally male at the time of the ceremony.
- Because marriage required a union between a man and a woman, the purported marriage was void ab initio.
- A decree of nullity was granted; the alternative non-consummation ground was not necessary to the outcome.

## Legal Principles

- Capacity to enter a valid marriage depends on the parties being, in law, one male and one female.
- For marriage, legal sex is determined by biological criteria present at birth: chromosomes, gonads, and genital anatomy.
- Surgical alteration of genital appearance and psychological identification with a gender do not change legal sex for marriage.
- A purported marriage that fails the male–female requirement is void, not merely voidable.

## Conclusion

The court declared the marriage void from the outset because the respondent’s legal sex for marriage was determined by birth-based biological factors, and the respondent was legally male at the time of the marriage ceremony despite subsequent surgery and a female social role.


Corbett v. Corbett (otherwise Ashley), [1970] 2 All E.R. 33 (Prob. Div. 1970)