From BBC News:
The 62-year-old singer had performed at the orphanage, where some of the children's parents had died of Aids.
Sir
Elton said during a news conference that he had always rejected the
idea of adoption because of his age and his lifestyle of regularly
being on tour.
But he said a 14-month-old boy called Lev had "stolen his heart" and forced him to consider a change of mind.
The death of John's longtime keyboardist apparently factored into his change of mind. John stated that his friend's death was devastating and "What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to."
Read the article here.
Harlow's Monkey 
um,I am pretty sure people AREN’T replaceable…
then again, that might just be my opinion…
That last line made me ill… just read that he was told he couldn’t adopt him by the Ukranian govt. b/c he is too old and unmarried.
eee gads, replacing a drummer with a child? Excuse me while I go SCREAM!
The government said no adoption will take place. They said the rules are the same for all– and high profile folks do not get to be the exception. (Guess Madonna won’t be adopting from there.)