MOSCOW, June 13 (RAPSI) – A HIV-positive woman residing in Russia’s Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area has restored a right to custody of her nephew through legal action, her lawyer Vladimir Vasin has told RAPSI.

A court therefore granted a lawsuit filed by the woman against a body of trusteeship and guardianship, which earlier held that the woman because of her HIV status could not be the guardian of the boy, whose mother had died from cancer.

According to the attorney, this decision of a local Office of Guardian straightly violated the Constitutional Court’s ruling delivered in 2018 declaring ban on child adoption by HIV-positive individuals illegal. 

Following this ruling, relevant amendments were proposed to the Family Code of Russia. In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill permitting individuals infected with HIV or Hepatitis C to adopt children in certain circumstances into law.