Putin orders ban on adoptions by foreign same-sex couples claiming children could be 'psychologically damaged'

Russia is to ban foreign nationals in same-sex relationships from adopting

Follows a report into so called 'psychological damage' that children suffer

Came after custody battle between American women who adopted in Russia



Russian authorities claim that they did not reveal they were in lesbian relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered that a ban be placed on foreign adoptions to same-sex couples.

His decision follows the commissioning of a report into so called 'psychological damage' suffered by a boy was who was adopted by two gay women in the US.

A move by France to legalise gay marriage and allow same sex couples to adopt has also led to new laws being drawn so that only traditional couples can adopt from Russian orphanages.

Vladimir Putin will ban foreign same-sex couples from adopting Russian children

Opposition on same sex couples adopting came to light with the conclusion of a custody battle waged between two American women over their 10 year old adopted son.

Russian authorities accused Marcia Ann Brandt of deliberately deceiving them when she adopted Yegor Shabatalov from an orphanage in Siberia in 2007 when he was five years old.

At the time Brandt was in a relationship with another woman, but did not tell the adoption agency handling her case.

Her same-sex union only came to light when Brandt and her partner Beth Chapman split up in 2009 and waged a custody battle over the boy who they re-named Ian.

'Unacceptable conditions': Russia's Foreign Ministry said the adopted boy faced conditions 'harmful to his mental health'

A court ruled that the boy should stay with Chapman at her home in San Francisco.

Russian officials said they were victims of an 'immoral trick' claiming Brandt had concealed the fact that she was in a same sex union when she began the adoption process.

Gay and lesbian marriages are not recognised in Russia.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials ordered a report into the so called 'psychological damage' suffered by the boy who was adopted in 2007.

Diplomats were refused permission to have access to the child.

Last month the Russian Foreign Ministry Envoy on human rights Konstantin Dolgov spoke of his concern for the well-being of the child.

'We are seriously concerned with the situation of Russian child Yegor Shatabalov, adopted by the US citizen Marcia Anne Brandt in 2007 under a ruling issued by the Kemerovo regional court,' he said.

Dolgov said the custody battle could have harmed the child and said he should be brought up in a 'normal' household of a man and a woman.

‘Mrs Brandt deliberately hid the fact of her family status from the a Russian court because it goes against the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which clearly states that the family is a union between a man and a woman,’ he said.

Chapman and Brandt had been together since 2002 but split two years after the adoption.

Brandt continued to work while Chapman stayed at home to raise their child.

In 2011 Brandt took her son for the weekend and refused to return him sparking the custody battle.

'Dubious morality': The Russian Embassy in Washington (pictured) said it had emerged that Ms Brandt was in a relationship with another woman when she adopted the Siberian boy in 2007

A family court ruled in favour of Chapman with the decision upheld by the Court of Appeal in January.

Russian officials attempted to gain access to the boy, but were refused.

Relations between the two countries on adoptions has broken down following a ban imposed on US couples adopting from Russian orphanages.

The Russian government in December banned all American adoptions of Russian children in retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators.

About 60,000 children have been adopted by Americans in the past two decades, and many Russians disagree with the ban, seeing it as a politically driven move depriving children of a chance to have a family.

Tearful: mother Yulia Kuzmina has appealed to President Putin to restore her parental rights following the death of one of her sons in the U.S. Russian authorities claim the death was a result of 'inhuman treatment''



Adopted: Russian authorities claim Maxim was being abused by his adoptive parents in Texas. They allege that Russian children are being mistreated by their adoptive parents in foreign countries



A number of high profile cases with alleged mistreatment of Russian children by their adoptive parents has further harmed relations.

Earlier this month Yulia Kuzmina, the Russian birth mother of two boys adopted by a couple in Texas, appealed to President Putin for her younger son to be returned to her after his brother died.

Max Shatto, three, was found unresponsive outside his home in Gardendale, Texas.

Russian officials claimed the boy was the victim of 'inhuman treatment' even though a prosecutor said his injuries were accidental.

Last month a teenager adopted by an American couple returned home claiming he had been forced to live on the streets.