Elton John, Canadian partner consider adoption

Pop star Elton John and his Canadian partner, David Furnish, say they want to adopt a Ukrainian boy they met during a tour of an orphanage there.

Elton, 62, visiting the country with his AIDS charity foundation, told reporters on Saturday that the pairwere interested in adopting a 14-month-old named Lev.

They met the boy while visiting an orphanage outside Donetsk, where many of the children's parents have died from AIDS.Ukraine has one of the fastest-rising rates of HIV infection in Europe.

"David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said 'no' because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child," John said.

"But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do 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. I've changed my mind today."

The singer, who has sold more than 200 million records in his career,mused that he didn't know much about adoption procedures in the eastern European nation and noted that Britain doesn't have a treaty with Ukraine on adoptions.

"But David is Canadian, so we might be able to work through something like that," John said.

The singer and Furnish, 46, werejoined in a civil partnership on Dec. 21, 2005 the first day same-sex unions were allowed in England and Wales.

The celebrity status of the couple, who met in 1993,may invite the same controversy that dogged Madonna when she adopted a second child from Malawi.

Children's aidorganizationsaccused her of using her celebrity to circumvent the African country's adoption rules, which require prospective parents to live in the country for a minimum time.

In the end, the singer got her wish.