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Egypt’s Coptic Christians outraged at government's mishandling of adoption case

The case of a little boy who was taken from his adoptive Christian parents by the Egyptian authorities and placed in an orphanage after being registered as a Muslim has triggered a backlash from rights advocates and brought the adoption laws under scrutiny.

An Egyptian Coptic Christian boy shouts slogans while holding a crucifix during a protest outside the Egyptian state TV building following sectarian clashes, Cairo, Egypt, March 10, 2011.
An Egyptian Coptic Christian boy shouts slogans while holding a crucifix during a protest outside the Egyptian state TV building following sectarian clashes, Cairo, Egypt, March 10, 2011. — Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

Almost three decades into their childless marriage, Amal Ibrahim, 50, and Farouk Fawzi Boulos had resigned themselves to the fact that they would never be parents.

Then a miracle happened. Ibrahim — a Coptic Christian — found in 2018 an abandoned newborn in the washroom of the Saint Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, located in Cairo's predominantly Christian district of Shubra.

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