New York Court Redefines What It Means To Be A Parent

New York state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that nonbiological, nonadoptive parents can seek custody or visitation rights, expanding the definition of what it means to be a parent. 

The New York State Court of Appeals overturned a 1991 decision that defined a parent as a biological or adoptive relative, noting that relationship and family structures have changed dramatically in the 25 years since that ruling was handed down. Nonbiological, nonadoptive parents, the ruling reads, can seek custody if “a partner shows by clear and convincing evidence that the parties agreed to conceive a child and to raise the child together.”