The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has awarded two lesbian couples the legal right to register as parents on their child's birth certificate.

The couples had argued that the Vital Statistics Agency discriminated against same-sex families over the listing of non-biological parents.

Previously, the non-birth mother had to legally adopt the child before being recognized as a parent. The couples conceived using sperm from an anonymous donor.

Barbara Findlay, the lawyer representing the couples, called it a significant ruling on the road towards full equality of lesbian and gay families.