Do bloodlines always trump emotional attachment? That’s what the Kentucky Supreme Court is trying to decide in two Louisville parental rights cases involving children born out of extramarital affairs.

And the rulings could set legal precedent for stepparents or grandparents who want custody of kids who aren't biologically theirs:

Kentucky's Supreme Court wasn't about to see Dustin Hoffman in a scene from the old movie Kramer vs. Kramer, but the justices were about to hear two real life dramas involving the custody of kids conceived during extramarital affairs:

In the first case, James Rhoades was having an affair with Julia Ricketts of Louisville producing a baby boy. Rhoades continued to see his son until Ricketts told her husband the baby wasn't really his. Since that bombshell last year, the Ricketts family has pretty much kept Rhoades from seeing his 14-month-old flesh and blood.

“I just want to see my son,” Rhoades said. “I love my son.”

The Ricketts say the boy should only have one father, the so-called psychological father, the caregiver he’s living with, not the biological dad who fooled around with the boy's mom.

In the second custody case, Ren Hinshaw is trying to keep custody of the 8-year-old boy he's raised since birth. Hinshaw didn't know he wasn't the biological father until his ex-wife told him during their divorce and went to court, claiming Hinshaw had no legal right to keep seeing what he thought was his kid.

“Frankly, he cares more about this child than the mother does,” said Steve Imhoff, Hinshaw’s lawyer.

One lawyer told the justices that if they rule in favor of the non-biological fathers in these cases it would open up floodgates for potential custody battles involving the legal status of who is the rightful parent.

It will likely be a couple of months before a ruling. And while attorneys argued about the rights of biological and psychological fathers, they were arguing in front of two women on Kentucky’s highest court” Justice Lisa Beth Abramson of Louisville joined Mary Noble from Lexington in hearing arguments Wednesday, the first time two women have been on the seven-member Kentucky Supreme Court.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.