Elton John wants to adopt Ukrainian child

London: Legendary British musician Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish are trying to adopt a Ukrainian child but have run into legal hurdles because their partnership is not recognised in the east European country.

John and Furnish, who married in a civil ceremony in 2005, had hoped to be allowed to bring up 17-month-old Lev who lives in an orphanage. But they were stopped as their civil partnership is not recognised in the Eastern European country. Also Elton, at 62, is too old under Ukrainian law to adopt, reported thesun.co.uk The couple has been offered a guardian role in Lev`s life. "We want to support Lev and his brother and get them into a Ukrainian home and out of the orphanage," said Furnish. "We were upset not to be allowed to adopt but we`ll fight and work with the Ukrainian government to change the law so that HIV positive children can be adopted. We`ll be like uncles. They can visit us on holidays," he added. IANS