Woman must use cancer photo on driver's license, motor vehicle commission says

Ever since Joanne Jodry was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in April, she has tried  not to let the disease define her.

But, for now her battle with cancer is evident on her driver's license.

Jodry, 53, of Neptune City, N.J., wanted to renew her driver’s license at the Freehold office of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission last Thursday and asked if she could keep her old photo with her long, flowing blond hair.

“When I got there, they told me that I needed to take a new photo,” Jodry said.

While this Monmouth University professor of psychology and mother of one has lost her hair to chemotherapy and concedes that the cancer has taken its toll on her appearance, she is upbeat, optimistic and uses the word “resilient” to describe herself. The photo meant more to her than just a picture.

“Clearly, I am bald and I have no eyelashes and this is a temporary condition,” Jodry said. “I said, ‘I’m undergoing chemotherapy and I will look very different in a few months.’ And I said, ‘I’d rather not take a picture. I’d rather use the old one.’ They said no.'”

Jodry said the clerk behind the counter explained he had no choice. The MVC computer system would not permit the use of the old photo with the new license.

However, several months earlier, Jodry explained that she had accompanied her 79-year-old mother to renew her driver’s license in Eatontown, N.J. There, Jodry's mother, Josephine Jodry, was allowed to use her old photo with her new license.

Undeterred, Jodry asked to speak with a manager.  The manager said she would allow Jodry to wear her head scarf but a new photo for the new license was non-negotiable, Jodry explained. She asked for the manager to "give me a break."

“I started to cry a little bit. Just because, for me, it’s not that I’m bald and how I look. It’s how people react to me being bald and how I look."

Before Jodry began the chemotherapy she decided who would know she had cancer. Now, the toll of the treatment on her body has betrayed her secret. On a daily basis, she contends with strangers offering unsolicited comfort.

Mairin Bellack, an MVC spokeswoman, said the agency is bound to comply with state law. For security purposes, the photo on a driver’s license in New Jersey is only good for two renewal cycles or a total of eight years. After that, everyone without exception, must have a new photo taken to renew their license. MVC offices take about 5,000 to 6,000 photos each day throughout the state, Bellack said.

There are options, she said. Anyone can get a new photo for their driver’s license at any time for an $11 fee.

But that is of little comfort to Jodry, who feels the state could have afforded one of its residents a little compassion in a vulnerable moment.

“I look sick. Right? And this is a four-year driver’s license,” Jodry said. “Every time I have to show ID, I don’t want to look sick. I don’t want to look sick in a year.”