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Elton John Can't Adopt: Ukraine

Singer too old, and country doesn't recognize his civil union

By the Associated Press

Posted Sep 14, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

(AP) – Elton John will not be able to adopt a 14-month-old Ukrainian child because the pop star is too old and isn't traditionally married, Ukraine's minister for family affairs says. The pop singer toured a hospital for HIV-infected children in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as part of a charity project and said he and his longtime partner, David Furnish, wanted to adopt an HIV-infected boy named Lev, the AP reports.

But a government minister says adoptive parents must be married, and Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions as marriage. John and Furnish tied the knot in 2005 in one of the first legal civil unions in the UK. The minister also said John was too old—at 62, the singer easily exceeds Ukrainian law requiring a parent be no more than 45 years older than an adopted child.

Pop singer Elton John visits and performs in the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
Pop singer Elton John visits and performs in the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.   (Efrem Lukatsky)
Pop singer Elton John during his visits at the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
Pop singer Elton John during his visits at the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.   (Efrem Lukatsky)
David Furnish is seen with baby Lev during a news conference with singer Elton John at the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
David Furnish is seen with baby Lev during a news conference with singer Elton John at the orphanage for HIV-positive children in town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.   (Efrem Lukatsky)
Pop singer Elton John kisses baby Lev during a news conference at a orphanage for HIV-positive children in the town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, September 12, 2009.
Pop singer Elton John kisses baby Lev during a news conference at a orphanage for HIV-positive children in the town of Makeyevka outside Donetsk, September 12, 2009.   ((AP Photo/HO))
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
bewilderbeast
Sep 15, 2009 2:51 AM CDT
Or in Kansas.
bewilderbeast
Sep 15, 2009 2:50 AM CDT
What do they mean Elton isn't "traditionally married"? Knowing Elton, I'm sure he had all the bling, the tiara, the cake, the ring, the lot! Hmph! Actually, though, Elton, I do believe you could do a better job if you adopted a whole orphanage. Set up a fund that sees to it that a whole lot of kids who will never leave the orphanage get as good a start in life as possible. You don't have to take them home. Madonna: You too.
DontLikeYou___
Sep 14, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
Doesn't elton know... you can't tell them you're gay in Ukraine. That's how they roll.

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