New York is currently one of seven states that allow same-sex couples to marry under the Marriage Equality Act. The movement for same-sex marriage is gaining steam, and laws across the nation are being implemented or altered to offer more rights and equality to these couples. But what happens when same-sex couples split and they have a child? Have state laws regarding child custody in a same-sex relationship kept up with the times?

One Florida case is shedding light on this very question. Two women, who ended an 11-year relationship shortly after having their own child, will have equal parenting rights to their child after a Florida appeals court overturned a child custody ruling by a Brevard County judge who ruled that only the woman who gave birth was the mother.

After finding out that one of them was infertile, the same-sex couple used a donated egg of one of the partners to be planted inside the other partner. That woman carried the child to term and gave birth, which under Florida state law means she is the mother. The judge of the original case ruled in favor of the birth mother under this law.

Both women were treated as parents by the child after the couple ended their relationship, but when the child was past the age of two, the birth mother took the child to Queensland, Australia.

Her former partner was not informed of this move, but she soon discovered their whereabouts, and the birth mother and child have since moved back to Florida. A Florida appeals court ruled that the U.S. constitution and the Florida constitution supersede the state's law, and awarded both women parenting rights. The child custody case now returns to the trial judge, with the appeals court instructing the judge to finalize child support, custody details, and visitation rights.

"This is a unique case, and the appellate courts in Florida have never before considered a case quite like it," the appeals court said.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, "Both lesbian moms have parental rights, Daytona court rules in custody dispute," Rene Stutzman, Dec. 29, 2011