According to Google, there are 120,000 orphans in the Ukraine with AT LEAST 100,000 more in state care.
That’s a LOT of orphans floating around over there, hanging out and over-saturating the system. Poor souls waiting to love and be loved.
The conditions are horrible and cramped in many of these orphanages, forcing some of the orphans, as young as 14, out onto the street. Because, you see, they are orphans. They have no where to go. So they end up turning to a life of crime and prostitution. Approximately 10% of these wandering souls end up committing suicide. Perhaps those are the lucky ones, eh?
Enter Elton John and long time partner David Furnish. Bound together in one of the first legal gay marriages in the UK. So yeah, they are husband and husband. Sign, sealed and delivered. They became one.
The couple go on this tour over in eastern Ukraine. They visit this hospital for HIV infected children. And they find 14 month old Lev.
They fall in love with him. AIDS and all. And they decide that it’s time in their marriage to have children. They make a decision…
They want Lev.
But…adoption rules in the Ukraine across the board are, you can’t be single and you can be no more than 45 years older than the child you want to adopt.
So they aren’t allowed to take little Lev home. Because, according to Family, Youth and Sports Minister of the Ukraine, Yuriy Pavlenko, Elton John is too old. And not only that but…they really aren’t a “traditional” couple.
Poor Lev.
He is infected with HIV. He is 14 months old. His chances of ever getting adopted are probably slim to none. And that is more acceptable than John and his partner being too old and too gay?
That poor baby was given a chance to have a nice life. With a very nice couple. Who, according the the United Kingdom, are indeed married. But instead, Lev should rot and die in the Ukraine orphanage system?
Isn’t that complete BULLSHIT???
With over 200,000 children in that particular system, doesn’t it make sense to change the rules, just a little bit?
ANYONE, if they are lucky, can have a baby.
But people that REALLY WANT one. A couple that would be able to take care of that child…aren’t allowed to adopt him?
Seems completely backwards to me.
One would think that the Ukraine would welcome the opportunity to be able to give the chance of a normal life to their orphans.
Or maybe not?
It’s a shame. *shakes head*
Aww. That is some sadness right there for both parties. Hopefully they will be able to fight it and perhaps set a precedent. If not, a shame indeed.
That is horrible! No wonder you are so mad! Stupid laws….
It’s totally heartbreaking. This little boy’s life would be immeasurably better and that should be the deciding factor.
Utterly infuriating. I wish the world could get it’s head out of it’s collective arse. Poor kid. Hopefully they can appeal it.
One would think that the Ukraine would welcome the opportunity to pawn off their charges on anyone else. Do these people not see the financial benefit of finding homes for as many orphans as possible? Or is this some weird, fucked up situation in which money doesn’t matter? Because it always matters. Nice of the Family, Youth & Sports Minister, who clearly has his priorities straight, to withhold a family from a child on any count. Guess he’s more invested in the sports aspect of his all-important job.
Tragic for bigotry to get in the way of humanity. Just infuriating.
They ought to be ashamed of themselves – and YES – CHANGE THE RULES.
That is horrible! I hate thinking about those poor little babies that don’t have anyone that loves them. I hope that he is able to save this child from a horrible life.
That is a hard one. I could care less about them being gay. My only real concern is their age. At some point you are too old to be parenting an infant. But I am not sure that I can say when that point is.
I don’t understand why they make it so difficult for a loving family to give a child a loving home. It’s that simple but they make it so complicated.
What’s really pathetic and sad is that someone nuts like Octomom can find a doctor to make her pregnant with a ton of kids!!!! 🙁
I understand that they need to make the adoption system “not easy” to weed out the riff raff. But yeah, some of the rules in countries that are OVERFLOWING with adoptable children have rules and wait times that are FAR too strict.
Before we conceived Sophia, we were going to adopt a little girl from China. We had looked into it for several years. I got pregnant with Sophia right around the time they changed the laws. 3 of the new qualifications were against us. I would have been heartbroken, had we started the process.
1) You have to have a net worth of over 80K. WOW! I don’t think I know anyone our age who has that much net worth, unless they live somewhere that their home value skyrocketed after they bought it.
2) You can’t have been on antidepressants in the recent past (or current). I had been on them for a short stint because I get seasonal depression.
3) You can’t be and x amount overweight. (I was 175 pounds at the time which was over their guildline…I think it was BMI).
So we weren’t wealthy, happy, and thin enough?
Ugh.
That’s outrageous. They’d rather have him languish and die alone that be taken care of and feel safe with two great fathers. Prejudice hurts everyone, eh?