Ukraine quashes Elton John adoption hope
September 14, 2009
Ukraine quashes Elton John adoption hope
Philippe Naughton
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(AP)
'He's stolen my heart' - Elton John with Lev
Sir Elton John will not be allowed to adopt a Ukrainian toddler because he is too old and is not married, a Ukrainian government minister said today.
The 62-year-old singer said yesterday that he and his partner, David Furnish, wanted to adopt a 14-month-old HIV-infected boy named Lev whom they met during a visit to an orphanage with his Aids Foundation.
But Yuri Pavlenko, Ukraine's Minister for Family, Youth and Sports, insisted today that adoptive parents must be married and Ukraine does not recognise homosexual unions as marriage.
Mr Pavlenko also confirmed that Sir Elton was too old to adopt since Ukrainian law requires a parent to be no more than 45 years older than an adopted child.
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The minister's intervention appears to have put and end to the latest celebrity adoption battle even before it got off the ground.
Sir Elton had once joked that he would never join in the celebrity craze for adoption because "frankly, I refuse to breastfeed".
But visiting the orphanage in the eastern city of Donetsk yesterday he told reporters that Mr Furnish had always wanted to adopt and he now did too because the young Ukrainian boy had "stolen my heart".
Sir Elton said that the couple would investigate the avenues for adoption, suggesting that it might be easier for Mr Furnish, as a Canadian, to take the lead. He also recognised that his age might be a problem.
The couple have already come under fire from children's charities, who discourage inter-country adoption as potentially exploitative and disorientating for children.
Adrian Lovett, a spokesman for Save the Children UK, said today: “While we’re sure Elton John is acting with the best intentions, his comments risk sending out a dangerous message about international adoption.
“International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve. The very existence of institutions can encourage parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life. It can mean that thousands of children are placed at potential risk of abuse in the closed environment of an institution.
“The best place for a child is nearly always in its home community. Most ’orphans’ in institutions, including in Ukraine, have one or both parents still living, or have an extended family that could care for them with the right support.”
Mr Lovett added: “Many people see children without care and naturally want to help. But some unscrupulous adoption agencies may profit from the sale of children, without ensuring the child is eligible for adoption, or adequately vetting the adoptive parents. This leaves children highly vulnerable to trafficking, abuse and exploitation.”
Of the 9 million children in Ukraine, more than 65,000 live in state-run institutions, according to Save the Children. An estimated 90 per cent of these children have been put into care because of poverty. Child abandonment has risen over the past decade along with unemployment, drug abuse and alcoholism.
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