A Utah juvenile court judge on Friday rescinded his order to remove a baby girl from her lesbian foster parents and place the 9-month-old with a heterosexual couple.

In ordering the couple to give up the baby, Judge Scott Johansen reportedly said that “kids in homosexual homes don't do as well as they do in heterosexual homes.”

The change means married couple April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce will keep the baby, but child welfare officials said that that could change after a custody hearing scheduled for Friday, December 4.

The couple told CBS News that they believe Johansen, a bishop in the Mormon Church, imposed his religious beliefs in deciding their case.

“This is all about sexual orientation, not what is best for the child,” Peirce said.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, were among those who criticized the judge's initial order to remove the baby from the couple's care within a week.