A same-sex couple in Winnipeg, who were hoping to adopt a foster child who had been placed in their home, were forced to give up the baby Friday after government officials determined another couple should become the adoptive parents.

"Essentially what happens is ... that you hand your little baby over to a police officer," one of the foster parents told CBC News on Friday. "[The baby] cries. [The police officer] hands her to a worker. She cries. They rush her out of the house and you don't see her again."

The names of the couple cannot be published because the women have two other foster children in their care.

'They rush her out of the house and you don't see her again.' —Foster parent

They told CBC News that they had agreed to take in a third child, if it would be a long-term placement that could lead to adoption.

They said an official with the provincial government's Child and Family Services Ministry told them the little girl was a "blue ribbon baby" because she was healthy.

"Why are we good enough to foster very special, high-needs kids, but we aren't good enough for the 'blue-ribbon baby'?" one foster parent asked.

The woman told CBC News that the couple is taking their case to the provincial Human Rights Commission because they believe their same-sex relationship was a factor in the child's being taken away.