Yesterday we learned that Madonna is planning to make her way to Malawi in order to take her adopted son David Banda for a visit to his homeland … and also to adopt a new child to bring home with her. It turns out that Maddy have already selected the little girl that she wants to adopt and her adoption case may go before the Malawian courts as early as this weekend. Say hello to Mercy James, the adorable little girl who may soon become the newest member of Madonna’s family:

Madonna’s bid to adopt a second Malawian child, a girl called Mercy James, will be examined by a court in the southern African country next week, officials said Friday. The 4-year-old would be a sister for Madonna’s three children including David, whose adoption by the U.S. pop star aroused controversy, and comes from the same orphanage. “Her name is Mercy James from Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. She has no father and mother, they both died… We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week,” an official at the ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters. Court clerks confirmed the name of the child and said that Madonna or her associates were expected to appear in court next Monday for the adoption proceedings. She is expected to arrive in Malawi over the weekend, officials said. Some Malawians opposed David’s adoption, accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by an AIDS epidemic. Mavuto Bamusi, national coordinator for the 60-member Human Rights Consultative Committee, told Reuters that this adoption would also violate the country’s laws. “As far as we are concerned, nothing has changed in terms of adoption laws in the country,” he said. The local Nation newspaper this month quoted Madonna, 50, as saying that Malawian friends had told her David needed a brother or sister and that she would consider adopting another child, but only with the support of the Malawian people. David’s life with the global pop star is worlds away from his village of Lipunga, where his relatives eat maize meal as a staple food and meals are cooked on open fires. His father, Yohane Banda, told Reuters that he may see his son next week.

OMG, Mercy is the cutest little girl. And boy, things sure do move fast where Madonna’s concerned. Tho, it’s not surprising … this is how fast things went when she adopted little David. Not long after we got our first look at the little guy, she and the baby were back in the US going about their biz. I really do like the idea of David having a little sister from his home country to share his new life with. While others may take issue with the ease with which Madonna is able to adopt her children, I think it speaks volumes to her character that she would want to adopt a child from a country that she so deeply cares for. I will never believe that she is adopting children just on a whim … to me, she seems like a very caring (if bizzy) mother who wants to share as much of her life as she can with orphaned children. We may know very soon if Mercy will, in fact, become Madge’s newest child. For Madonna’s sake, I hope everything goes smoothly … she would be very lucky to have this adorable child as her daughter.

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This just in … Madonna is reportedly making her way back to Malawi this week to take her adopted son, David Banda, for a visit to his home-country but sources say that she has filed paperwork there to begin the adoption process for a new child (which means that little David is gonna hafta learn how to share — whether he likes it or not) … now, whether or not the rumors of filed adoption papers is true, Maddy and son are making their way to the African continent this week (or shortly thereafter) so we’ll have to wait and see if she comes home with any substantial souvenirs:

U.S. pop star Madonna, who has said she may adopt another child from Malawi, may visit the southern African country in the next few days, a government official said on Thursday. Officials said Madonna will bring her Malawian son David, whose adoption was controversial. Critics accused the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by an AIDS epidemic. “We expect her over the weekend or earlier than that…but without a doubt she is coming before the end of this month,” the official at the Ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters. The local Nation newspaper this month quoted Madonna as saying that Malawian friends had told her David needed a brother or sister and that she would consider adopting another child, but only with the support of the Malawian people. David is growing up in the high-flying life of a global popstar, worlds away from his village of Lipunga, where his relatives eat staple food like maize meal from simple bowls and meals are cooked on open fires. Madonna is expected to visit a site where her charity, Raising Malawi, will start building a multi-million dollar school for girls, the officials said. David’s father, Yohane Banda, told Reuters that he may see his son next week. “Someone from Raising Malawi visited me last week and told me that my son may be visiting me sometime next week. I am delighted, I want to see my son,” he said. Madonna, who began adoption proceedings in 2006, took David when he was 13-months-old after his father had placed him in an orphanage following the death of his wife. She has said he was happy to be involved in a case that might pave the way for more adoptions in Malawi. An estimated one million children in the country have been orphaned by AIDS. Rights groups tried to block David’s adoption, saying it would be illegal. Child rights activist John Soo Phiri said Madonna may find it more difficult to adopt another child as a single parent after her divorce from film director Guy Ritchie. “She will have to prove that as a single parent she still has the abilities to raise another child alone,” said child rights activist John Soo Phiri.

From the Daily Mail: An official at the Malawi welfare department said today that the pop star has filed adoption papers. Another person in Malawi close to the case says that Madonna will be in Malawi this weekend and a court could hear her adoption case as soon as Monday. They both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

HMMM … methinks that Maddy will be becoming a mommy again very soon. Despite all the claims that Madonna will not be allowed to adopt a second child from Malawi, I’m pretty sure that if Madonna wants to adopt again she will be allowed to adopt again. Interestingly, Madge was chatting with fans on Twitter last night via her manager Guy Oseary’s Twitter account. And altho she had nothing to say about her upcoming trip to Malawi she did make mention of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie in a roundabout sorta way. When one fan told her that he was glad that she was single again she replied, “NOT AS GLAD AS I AM! M……………” LOL. In any event, while we wait for Madonna’s next appearance in the Twitterverse, I think we can expect to see photos of her Madgesty’s next visit to Malawi in no time. I’m thinking she’ll be getting a new baby soon. I guess we shall see.

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Now that Madonna’s 22 year old toyboy Jesus Luz has left her hallowed presence by returning home to his native Brazil, it would seem that Maddy is itching to replace him with another youngster … according to reports and an email she wrote herself, Madge has expressed interest in adopting another child from Malawi on the condition that the Malawian government approves her for another child. I’m not sure what Madonna’s other adopted child from Malawi, David Banda Mwale Ciccone-Ritchie, thinks about this but it seems clear that she’s interested in gettin’ herself another baby:

Pop star Madonna has said she may adopt another child from the poor southern African country of Malawi despite the controversy surrounding an earlier adoption. Critics accused the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by the AIDS epidemic, after Madonna took on David Banda. “Many people — especially our Malawian friends — say that David should have a Malawian brother or sister,” she said in response to emailed questions from Malawi’s the Nation newspaper. “It’s something I have been considering, but would only do, if I had the support of the Malawian people and the Government.” A Malawian court approved the adoption of David last year. Madonna has said the controversy had been difficult to deal with but she was happy to be involved in a case that might pave the way for more adoptions in Malawi. An estimated one million children in the country have been orphaned by AIDS. Madonna, who began adoption proceedings in 2006, took David when he was 13-months-old after his father had placed him in an orphanage following the death of his wife. David is growing up in the high-flying life of a leading pop star, worlds away from his village of Lipunga, where Banda’s relatives eat staple food like maize meal from simple bowls and meals are cooked on open fires. Madonna said she wanted to keep him connected to his homeland. “It is a big priority for me to educate my son about the world, but always to stay connected to his Malawian culture,” she said. “He has a big map of Africa in his room with lots of arrows pointing to Malawi.” Madonna said her divorce from film director Guy Ritchie would not deprive their children of either parent. “I believe in family. So, everything between us is very amicable … we both agree that our children should always feel a deep connection with both their parents. It is our responsibility to give them that foundation,” she said.

Madonna is deffo in the right situation to be able to afford and handle the adoption of another child but, IMHO, should only really do so if she truly wants to open her home to another child out of love rather than a feeling of obligation or charity. I can see how adopting another Malawian child might benefit little David Banda and I do support her decision to do so … I just hope it’s for the right reasons. To be honest, I never thought that she would really adopt another child (there were rumors that she was interested in adopting a Malawian girl shortly after she adopted David … which never held credence for me) so this news is a bit surprising … especially in light of her recent divorce. Whatever she decides to do, I really hope she puts the needs of the child first. Make room David Banda, it looks like you’ll be sharing your shiny new toys with a new sibling very soon.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Pete Wentz has updated his official blog at FriendsorEnemies.com with the news that he and wife Ashlee Simpson have just added a new member to their growing family. The couple adopted a 10 week old baby girl named Rigby … and here she is:

From Pete’s blog: the newest addition to the family. meet rigby. shes ten weeks right now and pretty much follows hem around.

Hem would be Pete’s dog Hemmingway (who was just made into a birthday cake for Pete’s birthday). Could little Rigby be a way for Ashl33n to practice their parenting skills now that they are expecting a baby of their own? Could be. I will say this for the happy fam, they really did get themselves an adorable new pooch. Mazal Tov! and much Congrats! to the entire Ashl33n family.

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