Siberian boy at the centre of US-Russian 'lesbian adoption' diplomatic dispute

Key evidence that the woman was in a lesbian relationship was withheld from the court in Kemerovo when it considered the adoption, it is claimed. 

The Russian Family Code does not allow adoption by same sex couples. 

This is the latest flashpoint in an increasingly acrimonious dispute over adoptions-turned-sour of Russian children by US parents. According to the Russian Embassy in Washington, it has come to light that Brandt was in a 'same-sex marriage' with a woman called Beth Chapman at the time of the adoption.

In 2009 the couple broke up and hearings in a US court followed over custody of the boy, who is called Ian in the US.

'Mrs Brandt deliberately hid this 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,' stated the Russian Foreign Ministry commissioner on human rights, Konstantin Dolgov.

The couple had been together since 2002 though there are doubts if and when it was officially registered. 

At some point, Chapman also sought to adopt a child, it is claimed. The Foreign Ministry consider the child 'got involved into a situation with the highly dubious morality'. He faced 'unacceptable conditions harmful to his mental health', it is claimed. 

'We believe that all of this goes against the best interests of the boy and requires our help in providing him with normal living conditions and upbringing in a complete family'.

'In 2008, the adoptive mother and her girlfriend split. After the split Yegor and Beth moved back to California. Marcia agreed to such a disposition, as Beth was a housewife and took care of her son,' said a report on Life News site. 

'Marcia Brandt worked full-time, providing the family with money, but spent time regularly with a baby. This situation continued for several years.

'In 2011 Brandt took the child for the weekend, refusing to return Yegor to her former partner and went to court, wanting to be the only guardian. 

'The judge nevertheless took the side of Chapman and decided that life with Beth was more suitable for the full education of her son.

'The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of 14 January 2013.'

Dolgov called the the case an 'immoral trick' by the Americans in a Tweet on Wednesday. It is understood that a request by Russian diplomats to have access to the child has been denied in the US. 

In another case that has marred relations between Moscow and Washington, the mother of a Russian child who officials in Moscow say was 'brutally killed' by his adoptive US mother has appealed to President Vladimir Putin to bring her second son home.

Three year old Maxim Kuzmin was 'murdered' in Texas, it is claimed. His two year old brother was adopted to the same American family. 

'I want to appeal to the president, the state prosecutor and Pavel Astakhov to take my second son away from those adoptive parents,' said Yulia Kuzmina.

She was shown on a video posted online by Life News. 'I want to make things right,' she said.

She claimed she had no idea her children were living in the US and the family dispute how the foreign adoption was organised.

'She has found work, changed her asocial way of life and wants to restore her parental rights,' said Kremlin children's ombudsman Pavel  Astakhov.

'The orphanage from which the US family adopted Maxim, is shut down, and a commission set up by the Pskov regional governor is working. 

'Our task is to find out the circumstances under which the boy's mother and grandparents were stripped of guardianship rights, as they question their refusal to abandon the children.'