If You Say It, Do It

How much does Elton John want to be the father HIV/Aides infected 14-month-old Ukrainian Lev? The boy, and his baby brother, spend their days (may spend all their young lives) in an orphanage, where they caught the eye and heart of the flamboyant singer.

John announced his interest in adopting the boy along with his partner, but, reasonably enough, Ukrainian law decrees that an adopting parent can't be more than 45 years older than the child. More arguable, the law also says the parent can't be single and, unreasonably, couples in a heterosexual marriage can adopt while those in a single-sex marriage are barred.

But what's to keep John from being intensely involved in the child's life even if he is barred from taking the boy(s) with him? What's to keep him from living as a father to the best of his abilities and circumstances just as so many other dads do? It's one thing to say you'd like to be a dad with your partner some day — as Neil Patrick Harris recently declared. It's quite another to take the full plunge by single dadding four Sierra Leone orphans, as did Brit Matthew Morgan-Jones. Within that spectrum leaves plenty of room for John to step up to his stated desire of fatherhood ... and we hope, Ukranian government notwithstanding, that he'll dive right in for the sake and benefit of Lev — a child unlikely to have many better options.