Ukraine nixes Elton John's adoption plans

Elton John and his Canadian partner, David Furnish, will likely meet with disappointment in their bid to adopt a 14-month-old Ukrainian child.

Ukraine's family, youth and sports minister, Yuriy Pavlenko,said John, at 62, is too old to adopt. Pavlenko also said Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions and only married couples can adopt.

"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," he said. "The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John."

John and Furnish wedin 2005 in one of Britain's first legalized civil partnerships, but Pavlenko's remarks indicate that Ukraine would not recognize the union.

John said an HIV-infected boy named Lev stole his heart when he toured a hospital in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.

Furnish also fell in love with the boy and expressed a wish to adopt him.

Ukraine has one of the fastest-rising rates of HIV infection in Europe.

Adoption of children with health problems is rare in Ukraine, andthey are likely to spend their entire lives in orphanages.

John runs a foundation for AIDS prevention and patient care and supports several projects in Ukraine.