A working mother who lost her two daughters to their stay-at-home father in a custody case that drew national attention has regained custody of the children in an appeal.

A 7-3 ruling in the 3rd District Court of Appeal this week returned the couple's children to Alice Hector, a 54-year-old lawyer. Judges reinstated an original trial judge's 1996 decision that was based in part on the fact that Robert Young, Hector's ex-husband, was unemployed at the time.

But a lawyer for Young said the original court ruling did not adequately apply Florida's 1993 ``gender-neutral'' law granting custody to the proven caretaker - not always the mother.

``A woman would never be asked `Why don't you have a job?''' said the lawyer, Ellen Lyons.

Young successfully argued in an appeal last year that he was the primary caregiver and it would be in the children's best interest to remain with him because he stayed at home while Ms. Hector worked.

However, the girls, now aged 14 and 11, never should have been removed from their mother's custody and turned over to Young, the judges said in a ruling Wednesday.

The court said there was enough evidence presented to the judge who handled the couple's divorce to support giving primary custody to Ms. Hector. A message left Thursday for Ms. Hector was not returned.

Young and Ms. Hector were married in 1982 in Albuquerque, N.M., where she worked as a public defender and he was an architect. She landed a job at a law firm in Miami and moved here in 1989 with the children. Young followed six months later but couldn't find work.

As a stay-at-home father, Young led a Brownie troop for one of his daughters, coached the other's soccer team and took both to doctor and dentist appointments.

Ms. Hector, who later joined a large firm, did what she saw as her fair share: woke the children up in the morning, helped with homework and spent time with them on weekends.

She filed for divorce in 1995 and was given primary custody a year later. Young was to have frequent contact with the girls, and within five years they were to move in with him for a year.

Young, who got a full-time job early in 1997, fought the custody ruling and in June 1998 won a decision by three members of the appeals court. Ms. Hector's lawyers asked for another hearing, resulting in the latest ruling.

The case had advocates of working mothers and supporters of fathers' rights questioning whether a working mother must choose between career and children if she wants to maintain primary custody, or if a father has the same nurturing ability as a mother.

``The decision is a tremendous victory for working mothers as well as working fathers,'' said Nancy Chang, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. ``The parents ought not (to) be penalized when ... pursuing a career.''

Sidney Siller, founder of the National Organization for Men in New York, said: ``You can't rule against a woman in this country, that's what it's come down to.''