A recent legal ruling in Massachusetts could have a dramatic effect on same-sex couples in the state with children -- particularly when it comes with sorting out child custody arrangements for same-sex couples that are divorcing.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that when a same-sex couple has a child via artificial insemination, they are treated under law just as a heterosexual couple that naturally birthed a child together. Thus, when a same-sex couple decides to divorce, they are subject to the same child custody laws that any other heterosexual couple faces.

The language of Massachusetts' current child custody law uses the terms "husband" and "married woman". However, the court recently stated that just because the term "husband" is used, it couldn't exclude same-sex couples, which received constitutional protection in the state in 2003.

The court was recently forced to examine this issue following litigation between two women, one of whom was artificially inseminated with the other's approval before they got married. The couple's relationship then began to fall apart. Upon divorcing, the woman that gave birth to the child tried to get a court to take away her partner's parenting rights because the woman could not be classified as a husband or biological father under the state's child custody laws.

However, a judge pointed to the fact that the other woman was involved in the insemination process, therefore, would classify as what the law considers a "husband" to be. The woman was allowed to maintain her parenting rights.

A court-appointed guardian was sent to the homes of both women to evaluate the home life the child experienced in both residences. She ultimately determined that both women were suitable parents and that their child likes to spend time with each of them.

Source: The Boston Globe, "Same-sex parents share role, court says," John R. Ellement, Feb. 3, 2012