US adoption bid couple on trial in Egypt

An American couple, Iris Botros and Louis Andros, thought they were finally reaching their dream of having a child when they went to Botros' homeland, Egypt, to adopt twin orphans. Instead they found themselves in a cage in a courtroom, on trial for alleged child trafficking.

The couple, who own a Greek restaurant in North Carolina, tried for years to have a child and attempted to adopt in the US where they married 15 years ago. But the age of Mr Andros, 70, and other factors stood in their way. A Cairo orphanage is alleged to have given them the twins, forging papers showing Iris Botros to be the mother.

The couple took the babies, named Victoria and Alexander, from the Coptic Christian orphanage back to a temporary home in Cairo while they tried to get American passports for them. But a US Embassy employee became suspicious and, faced with a DNA test, Ms Botros finally admitted she was not the biological mother.

The couple were then turned over to Egyptian police and face up to seven years in prison if convicted. The pop star Madonna's attempt to adopt a second child from the African country of Malawi has shown how complicated international adoptions can be. But in Muslim countries like Egypt, such adoptions are nearly impossible, snarled in religious tradition and murky laws.

The trial of Botros, Andros and another couple is the first of its kind in Egypt. In the tangle of the country's regulations and customs, even lawyers are unsure whether adoption is allowed. "I don't know if it is legal or illegal. Really, I don't know," Aameh Saleh, the Egyptian lawyer representing them told Associated Press news agency.

Islamic law forbids adoption but the law is less clear when it comes to the Coptic Christian minority. Adoptions within the Christian community do take place but they usually involves bribes and forgeries. In this case, the court heard that a Coptic orphanage in Cairo had supplied forged documents that Iris Botros had given birth to twins. In turn, the couple donated $4,500 to the orphanage. Friends of the couple say they were not aware they were doing anything wrong. They had reportedly asked if the process was legal and were assured that it was.

The authorities have been known to turn a blind eye to this in the past but Botros and Andros also may have been caught up in an attempt by the Egyptian government to show it is cracking down on human trafficking after criticism from the United States.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children