Colombia's constitutional court ruled on same-sex adoption last week, ultimately limiting adoption by gay and lesbian parents. Though the ruling did not take any existing rights away for LGBT couples, it prevented further expanding adoption rights.

The constitutional court announced on Wednesday its decision on Twitter, explaining the ruling would maintain the status quo.

"Same sex couples will only be able to adopt when one of the child is the biologically related to one of the parents," the court announced.

The decision comes after the court was deadlocked in an early vote and associate judge Jose Roberto Herrera had the deciding voice, according to El Pais. Despite the opposition's vehement objections to same-sex adoptions, the court's decision was to maintain last year's court ruling.

In August 2014, the constitutional court allowed Veronica Botero to adopt her wife's children, whom she had helped raised, reported Aljazeera. At the time, the court ruled she could adopt the child since Ana Leiderman (Botero's wife) was the biological mother. This week's decision maintains this status quo.

Though the constitutional court did not take away existing rights, it did not go further and allow all same-sex couples to adopt. The NGO Colombia Diversa expressed its disappointment in the court in a statement.

"We went from being second class citizens to having second class families, " said Mauricio Albarracin, executive director of the group.

"The court is contradicting itself because it says that we are good biological parents but bad adoptive parents," Albarracin added. "This is unenforceable in the eyes of the constitution."

Ahead of the decision, a debate had erupted over LGBT adoption. Among the voices joining the debate was a Colombian YouTube star Sebastián Villalobos. Known for his comedy skits, the 19-year-old vlogger released a more serious video ahead of the court's decision in which he revealed he had two moms, according to Fusion.

"If the judge says no to same-sex adoption then I hope you, the viewer, will at least respect other people's rights to live their lives after watching this video," he said.

Ultimately the court's decision was made, but the Colombian Legislature can change the law and allow same sex couples to adopt. According to El Espectador, Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo said the Legislature could now act to legalize same sex adoptions.

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