Adoption and the HIV-positive
The Ministry of
Health to allow HIV-positive & Hepatitis
B and C sufferers to adopt
April 23, 2013
The Ministry of Health Department
for Safeguarding Health has written to the Ministry of Education and
Science and Alexandra Volgina, the representative of patients’ association EVA.
The newspaper Kommersant reports that, in
the letter, the Department advocates that HIV—positive and Hepatitis B and C sufferers
are able to adopt. According to specialists, significant improvements in health
are achieved by following a prescribed regime of medication, so being
registered as an HIV-positive or Hepatitis B or C sufferer should not be a
reason to be denied adoption.
These illnesses do not pose a risk to children, says
Elena Alshanskaya, Director of Volunteers Helping Orphans, in an interview to
AIS.
‘A refusal of permission to adopt due to ill health
normally protects the interests of the child, but if the potential adoptive
parent does not pose any risk, we are talking about discrimination here.’
Alshanskaya also stated that recovering Hepatitis
sufferers have come across this issue before. Some that have been cured but are
still registered as a patient have managed to assert their right to adopt in
court. Also, there have been cases of HIV-positive parents adopting children.
Allowing HIV-positive and Hepatitis B and C sufferers
to adopt will help the orphan cause greatly, however Alshanskaya believes that the
proposed changes are no more than cosmetic in
their nature. For example, the expiry date of the medical clearance one has to
present when adopting has been extended from 3 to 6 months, but only for
adoptive parents.
