allowed for the first time. The country's supreme court ruled that a gay couple in a civil union had the same rights as a married heterosexual couple, but there is debate about whether such rights can be extended to a trio. But to Domingues, a public notary in the city of Tupa in Sao Paulo state, there is nothing preventing nontraditional relationships from being granted stable union status. The trio considers themselves a family and is entitled to be seen as such in the public record, Domingues said. By registering them, I only confirmed that they recognize themselves as a family, she said. I do n't confer rights to them. That is up to a judge to decide. The civil union was actually granted three months ago, but news of it only spread this week. Da Silva called the civil union deceitful, a runaround to grant status to a polygamous relationship. Such relationships are n't new; they just have n't been recognized, Domingues said. She says that she simply put her stamp of approval on a relationship that was surfing on a wave of cultural currents, but it was no coincidence that the request landed on her desk. The trio from Rio, having been rejected by other public notaries, found their way rural Sao Paulo state and to Domingues because she is a student of polyfidelitous relationships -- ones involving more than two partners, but where there is fidelity between the