Yet another step towards redefining parenthood away:

New Mexico's highest court has ruled in a precedent-setting case that a same-sex partner of an adoptive mother has legal rights as a parent and can seek child custody.

The state Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling Friday in the case of a woman who wanted joint custody of a child adopted by her partner during their 15-year relationship.

Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights said the court's ruling was very significant because the justices concluded that New Mexico's "parentage statutes must be applied in a gender neutral way to men and women equally, and regardless of a parent's sexual orientation or marital status."

The custody dispute involves Bani Chatterjee and Taya King, who adopted a 13-month-old girl from Russia in 2000. The couple separated in 2008. -- The Associated Press