 In spite of these steps toward equal treatment , a legal flaw remained : if children were born within a lesbian marriage , the non @-@ biological mother was not legally regarded as a parent ; she still had to undergo the lengthy financial process of adoption . This right was granted to heterosexual couples ( married or not ) , where a stepfather could declare his wife 's children to be his without further process . On 7 November 2006 , the government amended the law on assisted reproduction , allowing the non @-@ biological mother to be regarded as a parent alongside her female spouse who is the birth @-@ mother . 
