Elton John Is Given Some Hope

Recently it was reported that singer Elton John and David Furnish would not be able to adopt 14-month-old Lev, due to Ukranian adoption laws which prohibit same sex couples and unmarried couples from adopting.

It seem as if Yuri Pavlenko, the Youth & Sports Minister of Ukraine has had a change of heart. On Thursday (September 18), Pavlenko said that Sir Elton "has the right and opportunity to invite the family of this boy to visit him, take them under his guardianship and help him grow into a good person."

However, Pavlenko also said that the adoption was not possible because although Lev is under the care of an orphanage his mother is still alive.

The Minister said, "I'd like to ask everyone to be tolerant to the boy. This is not an orphan, the child has a mother and an elder brother and so he cannot be adopted by law. He has a difficult fate, like his mother. Help has been provided to his mother to find strength to bring the family back together."

Elton John still has a rough road ahead of him. Not only does the country's Orthodox and Catholic churches have strong views on gay adoption but The Orthodox Church in Ukraine has already branded Sir Elton a "sinner" because of his sexuality.