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28 January 2011 Last updated at 10:08 GMT
French gay marriage ban upheld by constitutional court
The couple have four children - Merlin, Emilie, Anatole and Virgile
The French constitutional court has upheld a ban on gay marriage, which was challenged by a lesbian couple with four children.
The court ruled that the ban, challenged by Corinne Cestino and Sophie Hasslauer, was in keeping with the constitution.
Activists had hoped France would join states like Spain and Belgium in legalising same-sex marriage.
An opinion poll suggests most French people are in favour.
The TNS Sofres survey of 950 people suggests that 58% of French people approve while 35% oppose gay marriage.
The idea that the court should rule at all on gay marriage was condemned by the leader of France's far-right National Front, Marine Le Pen.
Fifteen years together
The court, or Constitutional Council as it is formally known, reached its decision through a panel of eight judges, six men and two women.
While many European states recognise homosexual civil unions, only Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Iceland legally acknowledge same-sex marriage.
Ms Cestino and Ms Hasslauer have lived together 15 years, are raising four children together, and already benefit from a French law recognising their partnership, but they cannot marry.
"It is not so much about getting married but about having the right to get married," Ms Cestino, a paediatrician, told the Associated Press news agency.
"So, that is what we are asking for: just to be able, like anyone else, to choose to get married or not."
Children's status
At issue for the court was the legality of two articles in the civil code stipulating that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
Marriage is the only solution in terms of protecting our children, sharing parental authority, settling inheritance problems and eventual custody if one of us were to die”
Corinne Cestino and Sophie