BOSTON (AP) – Seven months after champagne toasts rang in a new era of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, same-sex couples are beginning to share in the less joyous side of matrimony: irreconcilable differences, settlement agreements and divorce.

Over the past few months, newlywed same-sex couples have been trickling into probate courts across the state, seeking to renounce the vows they so recently took, filling out forms that remain outdated with the traditional “husband” and “wife” references.

While opponents of same-sex marriage are already promising to put a political spin on these swift separations, the divorces are like the thousands of others that take place each year, involving dry legal proceedings, the division of property and custody of the family pets.

“A divorce is a divorce is a divorce,” said Pamela Casey O’Brien, register of the Essex County Probate and Family Court.

In Suffolk County, which includes Boston, the first same-sex divorce case was filed by a male couple who exchanged vows in Marblehead on May 22, in the heady early days of same-sex marriage when hundreds of couples exercised the hard-won right.

Middlesex County, the state’s largest, received its first same-sex divorce case on Dec. 2, involving a 38-year-old Somerville woman who works for a cleaning business, and a 27-year-old student. The Somerville woman sought the divorce, citing “cruel and abusive treatment” during the three months of marriage.

In Hampshire County, home to the gay enclave of Northampton, the register of the probate court said that at least three or four same-sex couples have been divorced, but said they don’t keep records or set them aside.

According to the state Registry of Vital Records, at least 4,266 same-sex marriage certificates have been issued, although there is a lag time in the records, which means hundreds more could have wed this year.

While the state’s marriage records have been changed to become gender-neutral, the divorce records have not yet, requiring some couples to have to strike out the words “husband” or “wife” – not a huge obstacle but disrespectful to the couples, said Richard Iannella, register of the Suffolk County probate court.

Charlotte Whiting, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Court System, said the forms are under review.

The prospect of same-sex divorce raises some trickier questions, however, when it comes to couples that may have moved to states that do not recognize their marriage – and therefore would not have a standing to grant them a divorce.

Opponents of same-sex marriage said that these divorces, occurring so soon after the weddings, confirm that same-sex couples and marriage just do not jibe.

“We’re not surprised,” said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which led the fight for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the Legislature this year. “Demographics have shown consistently that particularly among male homosexuals, the promiscuity is just phenomenal. This is by no means a monogamous movement.”

With the national divorce rate hovering near 50 percent, gay rights advocates dismissed any attempts to cast judgment on same-sex couples who decide that a marriage won’t work.

Josh Friedes, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Freedom to Marry Coalition, said the rapid divorces were no cause for concern.

“It would be wonderful if every marriage lasted until a couple lived to a ripe old age, but unfortunately we know from our heterosexual peers, that all too often there are irreconcilable differences, and for these couples, divorce is often the most humane option,” Friedes said. “Anyone who argues that gay and lesbian couples divorcing is grounds for opposing gay marriage is being incredibly hypocritical.”