A couple have made history in Brighton after becoming the first gay parents to benefit from new legislation.

Natalie Woods and Betty Knowles were the first same-sex couple to both be able to sign the birth certificate of their daughter Lily-May Betty Woods at Brighton Register Office.

The couple, who live in Brighton, used a registered sperm donor clinic to conceive but thanks to new legislation under the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, were both able to register as Lily-May’s parents.

Previously Miss Woods, who carried the baby, would have been recorded as her mother but Miss Knowles would have to have been granted parental responsibility through the courts.

Miss Woods said: “It is fantastic. Compared to having to go through the courts this is really straight-forward and the way it should be.

“We started forward on this journey together so it is fitting that we can both sign the register.

“It’s also good that we don’t have any of the worries and concerns of me being the only legal parent.

“It is quite a milestone, as the fact that same sex parents can both be on the birth certificate show that our kind of family is becoming more acceptable.”