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Photo by Richard Mushet
Like many celebrity adoption attempts, including Madonna's adoption of a girl from Malawi, Elton John announced that he would be adopting an HIV-positive toddler from Ukraine even though the adoption was illegal under Ukraine law. Since that announcement, Elton John has been formally told that he can't adopt the boy because of several Ukraine laws that prevent it.
According to the Daily Mail, Elton John has now been called a "sinner" by a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Father George Gulyaev. "Thank God it's impossible under Ukrainian law for Elton John to adopt a child," Gulyaev said.
Though Elton John is not legally allowed to adopt the toddler that captured his heart in a Ukrainian orphanage, he has been offered a guardianship arrangement which would allow the singer to take part in baby Lev's life without being a legal adoptive parent. Though Lev lives in an orphanage, his mother is alive and still retains some parental rights.
Under the guardianship arrangement, Lev and his mother would spend time with Elton John in his home in the U.K. Lev's mother, like Lev, is HIV positive and reportedly gave him up to the orphanage so that he would grow up without the social stigma of having a parent with AIDS. Lev's mother has not been publicly named. Her other child, an older son, would also be involved in visits to Elton John under the arrangement.
Because both of her children were given to the orphanage, legal proceedings had begun to take away her parental rights over both boys. If all parties agree to the guardianship arrangement, she would retain her parental rights and attempt to bring her family back together.
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