On Monday, Ukrainian minister for family affairs announced that Elton John will not be able to adopt a 14-month-old Ukrainian child since the pop star is too old and is not traditionally married.

Accrording to the Houston Chronicle, "the pop singer toured a hospital for HIV-infected children in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as part of a charity project and said that he and his male partner David Furnish wanted to adopt an HIV-infected boy named Lev."

Yet, the nation's Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yariy Pavlenko told the Associated Press that adoptive parents must be married and Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions as marriage."

In 2005, John and Furnish, his longtime partner, got married in one of the first legalized civil unions in Great Britain.

Pavlenko also noted that John was too old. The singer is 62-years-old and Ukrainian law requires a parent to be more than 45 years older than an adopted child.

The Chronicle quotes Pavlenko as saying that, "foreign citizens who are single have no right to adopt children ... and the age difference between the adopter and the child cannot be more than 45 years. The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John."

At the orphanage in Makiyivka, John gave Lev a big kiss.

Elton John said, "I don't know how we dot that, but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home."

Pavlenko explained that Ukraine was appreciative for the singer's charity and expressed hope that his dream of adopting Lev could spark domestic adoptions of more children suffering from health problems, which is still rare in Ukraine.

To read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle, link here:

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