Top Massachusetts court rules woman’s former lesbian partner has equal parental rights

The top court in Massachusetts has given a lesbian woman full parental rights over two children, although she is not biologically related to the children and was never married to their mother.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Karen Partanen should be considered the parent of the two children, who were artificially conceived and born to Julie Gallagher at a time when Partanen and Gallagher were partners. 

Although the two women were not legally married and later split, the court ruled that their relationship at the time of the children’s birth was sufficient to establish parental rights.