Contends she is following "standard procedures" for the adoption of Mercy James
First we saw photos of Madonna with her daughter Lourdes Maria in Malawi, then we saw photos of Maddy with her adopted son David Banda. Today we get to see that Madge’s eldest son, Rocco John, is also in Malawi with his mother and siblings on the family trip to A.) adopt a new child into the family and B.) reunited David with his biological father for a quick visit. Madonna, thru her longtime publicist Liz Rosenberg, has finally gone on the record concerning her desire to adopt Mercy James as her daughter and contends that she is following all the standard procedures in place to adopt a Malawian child. Here are a few pics of Madonna and her sons (you will note that Rocco is now sporting a mohawk) in Malawi this week and the latest on her bid to adopt Mercy James:
Madonna said Tuesday that she was following standard procedures in her adoption of a Malawian girl, her first response to accusations that that she is using her fame to speed the process. The pop superstar also took her 3-year-old adopted son, David, to visit the orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border, where he once lived. She brought him Monday to meet his biological father for the first time since he left Malawi in 2006.
“Madonna is committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with David’s Malawian roots,” said Liz Rosenberg in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Madonna took David, her 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and 8-year-old son Rocco to the orphanage with a security detail including uniformed Malawian police officers and plain-clothed guards from a private security firm. The entourage used two Toyota Land Cruisers to block a horde of journalists and more than 200 curious children. There were scuffles with the journalists, including cameramen and TV crews, as they tried to enter the brick-walled orphanage. Inside, the orphanage’s director Lucy Chipeta brought Madonna and her children to see the room and crib used by David. “It was an emotional moment,” she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I am happy she brought her other children to see his roots.” Madonna confirmed she is trying to adopt a girl named Chifundo “Mercy” James who is about 4 years old. A Malawian judge held a closed-door hearing Monday on Madonna’s application to adopt the girl but delayed ruling on the matter until Friday. The girl’s 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth, according to the child’s uncle, John Ngalande. Her father is believed to be alive but has little contact with his daughter, he said. A coalition of non-governmental organizations called the Human Rights Consultative Committee has criticized Madonna’s adoption attempts, saying that adoption should be the last resort and that children need to be taken care of by their own family. “Mercy James is a child who has her extended close family members alive and we urge Madonna to assist the child from right here,” a statement from the coalition said. But others have said that the adoption would give enormous opportunities to the child that she would be unable to achieve in the impoverished country, where 14 percent of adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The U.N. estimates that half of the 1 million Malawian children who have lost one or both parents have been orphaned by AIDS. Malawian law is fuzzy on foreign adoptions. Regulations stipulate only that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London. Madonna may also face legal challenges as a single mother; she and Guy Ritchie recently divorced. Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis. Her Raising Malawi organization, founded in 2006, raises funds to provide food, shelter, education and health care for children.
It sounds like we really won’t get any new information until the postponed case goes before the court this Friday. In the meantime, it sounds like Madonna and her children are having a lovely time in Malawi. I imagine it was a very emotional moment for Madonna to return to the orphanage where David lived before she adopted him. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how some people can be so critical of her adoption of David and her proposed adoption of Mercy James. In an ideal world, these children would be able to grow up happy and healthy in the care of their mothers … but since that isn’t the case, I think being adopted into a family with the means to provide for an extremely advantageous life is a blessing. But, I shant get into the whole matter all over again. We will soon know what the court’s ruling is and that will settle the case once and for all. And so … we wait.
[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source]
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