Parliament voted against allowing gay couples to adopt children.

Current Swiss law prevents men or women living together as a couple from adopting, and yet single homosexuals can do so.

A number of MPs feel this is absurd. They also point to a study showing many children currently grow up with gay parents anyway.

But without a change in the law on adoption, they cannot get the same legal rights as kids with heterosexual parents.

Martina Scheidling von Kennel is a committee member of the gay association Arc en Ciel. She says legal recognition would encourage social recognition.