A Japanese court on Friday ruled that only the child born before a trans woman went through her surgical and legal transition could be recognised legally as her child, while the child born after her transition cannot be, media said. Japan, where many LGBTQ+ people still do not come out to their families, requires that anybody who wants to legally change their gender have surgery to remove the sexual organs they were born with, a practice sharply criticised by human rights groups. The trans woman, who was assigned male gender at birth, had two daughters with her female partner using sperm preserved before her transition, public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo news agency reported.