Birth Stealth

Birth Stealth

(adjective phrase)

A transgender person choosing to pass universally as a cisgender person of their birth assignment. Being birth stealth can be a freely made choice, but is often due to one or multiple forms of transition being inaccessible to the individual and a need to maintain familial, employment, or housing stability. When this happens, often the person is labelled as having detransitioned. However, the term birth stealth is often more accurate as the person has only disavowed their trans status under duress.

A birth stealth trans woman passes as a cisgender man; a birth stealth trans man passes as a cisgender woman, a birth stealth non-binary person passes as whatever cisgender person shares their birth assignment. It should be noted that birth stealth (as well as stealth) can sometimes be used in derogative ways, and therefore it’s best to not apply this label to others unless they self-identify with the term. 

e.g. Greg is birth stealth at school for their own safety, but at home they express their gender however they wish. 

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