With such high divorce rates today, custody battles over children have become quite ordinary. However, it is not every day that a custody dispute is between a child’s father and his two mothers. In Ottawa on Jan. 2, Canadian courts redefined family structure by granting full custody to a five-year-old boy’s biological father as well as to his biological mother and her lesbian partner. The decision repealed a 2003 court case that declared that custody could only be held by one woman and one man.

“This isn’t the only couple who’ve had a baby with another person and wanted the three people to be equally involved in the child’s upbringing,” Kaj Hasselriis, acting executive director of gay rights group Egale Canada, said to The Hamilton Spectator.

In 1999, the lesbian couple approached the father about assisting them in having a child. After their son’s birth, the father continued to be involved in the boy’s life. The threesome wished to be recognized as the boy’s legal parents without the two mothers adopting the boy, which would take custody rights away from the father.

According to The Daily News & Analysis, the judges on the case wrote, “There is no doubt (previous custody) legislature did not foresee for the possibility of declarations of parentage for two women, but that is a product of the social conditions and medical knowledge at the time.”

Many Canadian gay rights groups applauded the outcome of the court case.

“We support any attempts overseas or here to recognize diverse family forms outside the 1950s nuclear family,” said Simon Levett, spokesperson of The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, to SX News.

“(The ruling demonstrates) that the justice system is ahead of politicians on this issue,” said Hasselriis. “There is now legal recognition of relationships and families that already exist in Canada and have existed across Canada for years.”

However, many religious groups are outraged by the court’s decision. The opponents fear that leeway will now be given to what they call absurd parental claims.

“If the relationship between three or more parents breaks down, it would complicate custody hearings,” said Don Hutchinson, legal counsel for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, to The Hamilton Spectator.

Despite this court ruling creating changes for the citizens of Ottawa, it cannot be certain that the case will have a noticeable effect on U.S. courts.

“The United States does not pay much attention to court cases in other countries,” said Ken Hull, Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Queer Alliance (GLBTQA) resources coordinator. “North Carolina law does not allow two people of the same sex to legally adopt children.”

“It would be nice to think that a court ruling like this would occur in the United States,” Hull added. “But I think the Ottawa case will not immediately affect legislature in the United States.