Russia bans adoptions by foreign same-sex couples

Russia announced an expansion to its adoption ban on Thursday, with a new decree prohibiting the adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples and single people who live in countries where same-sex marriage is legal.

The new decree, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and dated Feb. 10, was posted on the Russian government’s official website Thursday. The move comes one year after Russia banned adoptions from the United States, widely seen as a retaliatory measure after the U.S. passed a law in 2012 punishing Russian officials thought to be involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian auditor who died after allegedly uncovering widespread fraud and human-rights violations.

The new measure specifically targeting gays also comes after Russia passed an anti-gay-propaganda law last year, drawing the ire of the international community as Russia hosts the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

The decree also brings policy in line with a law passed by the Russian government last June that bans adoptions by gay couples.

International adoption groups told CNN that the change makes official an informal policy of denying adoptions of Russian children to people are suspected of being gay.

It is unclear if married heterosexual couples of the more than a dozen countries that allow same-sex couples to wed will be affected. The wording of the new law suggests it will not have an impact on heterosexual couples, but Russian media outlets have reported the changes as an across-the-board ban.

Previously, an unmarried Russian or foreign person seeking to adopt a child could do so after a background check.

Al Jazeera