In a reported first for Russia, a court outside Moscow has allowed an HIV-positive woman to adopt a child.
The ruling by a court in the city of Balashikha was pronounced on February 13.
The woman's lawyer, Ilnur Sharapov of the Agora rights group, said that his client was allowed to adopt a child borne by her sister via artificial insemination. Reports did not identify the woman or her relatives by name.
According to Sharapov, the woman became infertile after she was infected with HIV and hepatitis C at a medical institution she had turned to after unsuccessful efforts to become pregnant.
In June, Russia's Constitutional Court ruled that people of either sex living with HIV can adopt children who are already living with them as family members. HIV-positive people are still barred from adopting children who are not in that situation.
The ruling was announced after Sharapov's client filed a complaint with the Supreme Court following a lower court's decision not to let her adopt the child.
After the Supreme Court ruling, corresponding amendments were introduced to Russia's Family Code in December.
