The Corbett v Corbett (otherwise Ahley) divorce case establishes a precedent that a person’s sex is fixed at birth. Justice Ormrod J holds that the purported marriage between Mr Corbett and April Ashley, a fully post-operative male-to-female ‘transsexual’ person is void, and grants Mr Corbett a decree of nullity of marriage. Ormrod J holds that for the purpose of marriage a person’s ‘true sex’ is fixed at birth, and a male-to-female transsexual person cannot ‘reproduce a person who is naturally capable of performing the essential role of a woman in marriage’.
