THEY set out together to create a much-wanted child. But when baby E was born, his lesbian parents, and the gay couple who donated their sperm, were unprepared for the ''flood of emotions'' that hit them.

Although the four had discussed parental responsibilities and visiting arrangements at a "baby summit" before E's conception, the Family Court heard that in the struggle for ''ownership" of the child after his birth, the women stopped the men from seeing him.

Justice Linda Dessau had to determine what was in two-year-old E's best interests.

Stressing that the case was not about the socio-politics of single-sex parents or the definition of a nuclear family, she ruled that the boy should spend time with all four adults.

''E is the product of a number of fine people,'' she said in a recent judgment. ''He is entitled to know about them, to know them, and to know their love of him.''