The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Alabama's top court went too far when it tried to upend a lesbian mother's adoption of her partner's children.
 
The justices threw out a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court in a dispute between two women whose long-term relationship ended bitterly.     

"I have been my children's mother in every way for their whole lives. I thought that adopting them meant that we would be able to be together always," the noncustodial parent known in court documents by the initials V.L. said in a statement issued by her attorney. "When the Alabama court said my adoption was invalid and I wasn't their mother, I didn't think I could go on. The Supreme Court has done what's right for my family."

Before their breakup, one partner bore three children; the other formally adopted them in Georgia. The Alabama residents went to Georgia because they had been told Atlanta-area courts would be more receptive than judges in Alabama. The Georgia court granted the adoption in 2007.