Russian Foreign Ministry ‘seriously worried’ to learn of orphan adopted by lesbian
The Russian Foreign Ministry says it’s concerned over the fate of an orphaned Russian boy adopted by an American woman in 2007, having learnt that the woman is a lesbian.
According to AFP, the ministry’s human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov said there was “serious worry” about the boy, Yegor Shatabalov.
Marcia Ann Brandt adopted Yegor in 2007 and at the time was living in a same-sex marriage with a woman called Beth Chapman, according to a Russian report.
However, she did not make this known to Russian officials when she adopted Yegor.
In 2009, Ms Brandt’s relationship ended and she and Ms Chapman became involved in a custody battle over Yegor.
Human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov Dolgov said: “[Yegor] was sucked into an argument over a relationship that was quite dubious from the moral point of view.”
“We believe that Yegor’s situation is unacceptable and harmful to his psychological health.”
This marks the latest in a Russian furore over international adoptions.
Earlier this week, Russia accused a Texan couple of murdering a three-year-old they had adopted from Russia.
In December, Russia placed a ban on all adoptions from the US, which had taken in around 60,000 Russian children since 1992.
