Ukraine: Elton John Too Old to Adopt

A Ukrainian government minister has deemed Elton John and his partner unfit to adopt a child because John is too old and the couple are not married, according to the Associated Press.

The 62-year-old singer announced Sunday that he and his partner, David Furnish, with whom he entered a civil partnership in 2005, wanted to adopt a 14-month-old HIV-positive boy named Lev who "stole my heart" during a visit John paid to an orphanage with his AIDS foundation last month.

But Yuriy Pavlenko, Ukraine's minister for family, youth, and sports, said in a statement Monday that adoptive parents must be married and that the Ukraine does not recognize civil partnerships as marriage.

Also, according to Ukrainian law, a prospective parent must be no more than 45 years older than an adopted child.

Last year, during the protests that followed the passing of Proposition 8 in California, John told the press that he didn't understand why the word marriage was such a big deal. He said he was satisfied with his civil partnership.