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.
In Muslim countries like Egypt, international 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 U.S.
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.
What is known is that Islamic law forbids adoption, and that is the law applied to Muslims in Egypt. The law is far less clear concerning Egypt’s Christian minority, to which Botros belongs. Still, the process is so long, confusing and tedious that the few Christians who try it often turn to backdoor methods such as 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, most likely thought they could do the same.
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.
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.
The two could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
