HAZEL PARK, MI (AP) -- Two women are suing the state of Michigan to try to overturn a state ban on adoption by unmarried couples.

April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse each have adopted children on their own. But they'd like to adopt the children as a couple, which is an option only for heterosexual married couples.

The women are nurses who live together with three children in Hazel Park, a Detroit suburb.

The Michigan Constitution bans same-sex marriage, and a separate law bans adoption by unmarried couples. The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Detroit claims the women's civil rights are being violated.

DeBoer has adopted two children, and Rowse has one. In each case, the biological parents were unable to care for the kids.

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