§ 581-703 Parent under section seventy of the domestic relations law

Here's a plain English summary of this rule:

When New York law talks about who counts as a "parent" for the purpose of getting custody or visiting a child under section seventy of the domestic relations law, it includes more than just birth parents or people named on a birth certificate. Anyone who has been legally recognized as a parent, whether through this article of the law or through some other legal process, counts as a parent for this purpose too.

This matters because it means people like adoptive parents, parents who established parentage through a court order, or parents recognized through other legal paths all have the same rights as biological parents when it comes to seeking custody or visitation. The law is making sure that no one gets left out of these protections just because their path to becoming a legal parent looked different from the traditional way.