"It's a very difficult burden," said attorney Stacy LeBow Siegel, who teaches at the University of Maryland Law School and is a co-author of the family law textbook used there.
"I am so thrilled," Siegel said of Larissa's victory. "I am so impressed with Judge Daniels' analysis and findings."
Siegel said the ruling should have an impact on any number of people who have psychological but not biological ties to children and find themselves at a legal loss after a breakup - same-sex partners, of course, but also step-parents.
"It's a reality," she said of the increasing numbers of nontraditional households. "The real world has far surpassed where Maryland law currently is. I praise Judge Daniels for recognizing that."
States continue to dither over whether gays should be allowed to marry - on Friday, Connecticut became only the third state to legalize same-sex marriage - but such couples increasingly are raising families together. By one estimate, more than one in four same-sex couples have children. Increasingly, according to a story in Time magazine last year, even states that have banned gay marriage are enacting adoption measures that make both partners the legal parents of the children they're raising.
It's been a slow process, and there is still great resistance. But it's heartening to see polls that show growing acceptance of gay unions and gay parenting.
And if there's one constant about any kind of coupling, it's that there's a chance that it won't last. And then there's that other constant, with any breakup, all sorts of weapons get fired, including and perhaps most of all, the children.
That's where the legal system comes in - while any kind of couple can use custody and visitation rights in their breakup battle, gays and thus their children have fewer legal protections. Which is certainly an argument for legalizing same-sex marriage or unions.
"It would put both parents on equal footing," Fairfax said.
For now, though, it's a piecemeal system. And even Larissa's victory hasn't been a complete one; her former partner's lawyer has said Melissa will appeal the ruling. That could further delay a visit with the boy Larissa already hasn't seen in more than three years - or about half his young life.
