Elton John's adoption hopes dashed
- 00:01:49
- ITN
Elton John's adoption hopes dashed
Sir Elton John's plan to adopt a 14-month-old HIV positive child from Ukraine is unlikely to go ahead because the pop star is too old and not in a traditional marriage. Ukraine's Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yuriy Pavlenko has rejected the possibility of Elton and his partner, David Furnish, getting custody of a little boy, named Lev. The singer met Lev when he visited an orphanage in eastern Ukraine as part of an anti-AIDS charity project. Mr Pavlenko said: "Ukrainian law clearly states that there is a ban on adoption by foreigners if, first of all, they are not married - meaning they are single and secondly, the difference of age between the child and the adoptive parent cannot be more than 45 years." The 62-year-old pop star married his partner David Furnish in 2005 in one of the first legalised civil unions in Britain, but Pavlenko said Ukraine does not recognize gay unions as marriage. There has been no formal application for custody of the little boy from Sir Elton John.
ITN | September 16, 2009
