Judges have moved beyond traditional notions of biology and adoption and assigned parental rights to adults with no genetic or legal ties to kids.

In a recent Sacramento case, an appeals court said a woman who never adopted her ex-girlfriend’s children was nevertheless their parent because she acted like one – providing for them financially, cleaning up after them when they got sick, and volunteering at their school.

“We’re redefining what constitutes a family,” said McGeorge School of Law professor Larry Levine, an expert on sexual orientation and the law. “It’s a whole new way of thinking about this.”

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