U.S. couple wanting to adopt on trial in Egypt

updated 9:41 p.m. ET May 14, 2009

CAIRO - An American couple, Iris Botros and Louis Andros, thought they were finally reaching their dream of having a child when they came 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 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. Botros and Andros, who live in Durham, N.C., 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.

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," said Aameh Saleh, the Egyptian lawyer representing Botros and Andros.

Islamic law forbids adoption
What is known is that Islamic law forbids adoption, and that is the law applied to Muslims in Egypt. The religion emphasizes maintaining clear bloodlines to ensure lines of patrimony and inheritance. At most, Muslims can take a child into long-term foster care, but such a situation does not allow the child to inherit from the foster parents.

Most often, orphans are informally taken in by their extended family, without any legal provisions. Almost all other Muslim countries in the Middle East have similar practices.

The law is far less clear concerning Egypt's Christian minority, to which Botros belongs. Adoptions within the Christian community — including by Egyptian Christians living abroad — do take place, usually involving a donation to a Christian orphanage. Proponents say this type of adoption is not explicitly banned, but still faces monumental barriers.

Many government officials are resistant to adoption — believing it is not allowed — and Muslim conservatives are opposed because they fear that Christians will adopt Muslim orphans and raise them as Christians.

The process is so long, confusing and tedious that the few Christians who try it often turn to backdoor methods like forgeries and bribes, sometimes organized by churches and mainly Christian orphanages.

"Adoption is organized throughout Egypt, through the churches," Saleh said. "The government knows about it all the time but turns a blind eye."

Botros, 40, and Andros, 70, likely thought they could do the same.

"She wanted to adopt children. She came to Egypt where there are so many poor and orphans," said Iman Faltass, Botros' aunt, who also lives in Durham. "I lived in Egypt until college and I knew people who adopted kids. It was simple and not illegal."

Efforts to adopt in U.S. failed
The couple, who own a Greek restaurant in Durham, tried for years to have a child and attempted to adopt in the U.S., where the two married 15 years ago, said Saleh. But several factors stood in their way, especially Andros' age.

On the advice of Egyptian friends, the two traveled to Cairo in the fall and were put in touch with a Coptic Christian orphanage that was caring for two newborn orphans.

The orphanage gave them forged documents to say Botros had given birth to the children, and the couple donated $4,600 to the orphanage, Saleh said. In November, Botros and Andros brought the twins, whom they named Victoria and Alexander, back to their temporary home in a mostly Christian neighborhood of Cairo.

But when they tried to get American passports for the babies, a U.S. Embassy employee became suspicious of them, Saleh said. When asked by an embassy official, Botros admitted she wasn't the biological mother, the lawyer said.

The couple was turned over to Egyptian police, who questioned them for several days before formally arresting them in December. The charges leveled against them were far more serious than either expected — child trafficking, forging documents and trying to smuggle people out of the country.

The two could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. In their first court session in March, Botros and Andros appeared in a metal cage in the courtroom — as defendants in Egyptian courts are always held during hearings — and pleaded not guilty. They are to appear for a second session on Saturday.

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