Madonna Wins Adoption Appeal!
How wonderful!!
Madonna has won her appeal to adopt a Malawian girl.
The 50-year-old singer – who was barred from taking home four-year-old Chifundo ‘Mercy’ James in April as she had not been a resident in the country for the 18 months required - was told she would be able to give the girl a new home during a 90-minute hearing held at Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal earlier today.
The southern African state's chief justice Lovemore Munlo said:
“In our view, Chifundo James would be better taken care of if she was adopted by foreign parents who will give her love and affection. We therefore grant the adoption.”
Madonna is very “excited” with the news.
The pop superstar’s lawyer Alan Chinula said:
“It's the wee hours of morning in New York but she is excited at the news. As her lawyer I am happy this has settled this contentious issue.”
He added he is currently organizing Madonna’s travel plans for Mercy, and is in the process of getting the tot a passport.
In making his decision the judge took into account Madonna’s commitment to giving Malawian orphans an improved standard of life.
The judge also commented on the singer’s financial stability – she earned $110 million last year - made her a good candidate to adopt.
Madonna has already adopted three-year-old David Banda from the country, and set up the Raising Malawi foundation which aims to give orphans food, education and medical care.
Mercy’s 18-year-old mother died soon after giving birth, and the child had been raised in an orphanage ever since.
However, a man claiming to be the toddler’s father is opposed to the adoption.
Last month, James Kambewa, 24, said:
“I want to take care of her and I'm capable of taking care of my baby. Mercy, she is a Malawian, so I need her to grow as a Malawian, with our culture.”
What do you think? Did the court's make the right decision?
So she bought another kid. Congrats. I hope she's a good mom.
she is not a googd mom
How do you know? your crystal ball?
unreal - money can get you anything..
chrisbrown is so cute and his shoud of beat the holly s*** out of her his is the bomb
Can you translate that to English please?
I doubt he/she would be able to. They have to put the crack pipe down first.
85045 points
While I agree that Madonna will be able to provide a better way of life, that doesn't necessarily make her a good parent. The fact that she would willingly take this child away from the father that wants her is confirmation enough.
From what i have read (granted, I don't know how much of it is true), her "father" was totally out of the picture since she was born and only came into the picture when he saw it was a woman with megabucks who wanted to adopt her. I think he was only out to scam some money out of the deal, which he probably did.
Wonder how much money she gave Malawi to get this child? It is true, money will get a person pretty much anything they want. That being said, I hope the little girl has a nice life and Madonna is a good mother to her. However, the current trend of buying African babies makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach!
Congrats to Mercy who will now have a chance to live a wonderful life!!! She will get an amazing education, see the world and be able to return to her country and help when she is older. I am very happy to know David will have a sister from his own country so he will not feel left out. Hate Madonna all you want but at least she is not popping out 8 kids into this over crowded world. Adoption is the right thing and unless you know about adoption and how life in an orphanage is then I suggest you save the harsh comments. This child would NOT have been better off without Madonna. Face it.
Congrats!
8980 points
I am sure Mercy will love her nannies. ;)
9350 points
Yes, she will
1915 points
Exactly!
Money isn't everything and it doesn't provide a good or happy life. If that were the case there wouldn't be so many celeb kids who's lives are a total reck.
12080 points
I am genuinely curious about how these adoptions work. First off, I am wondering why, given the whole hoopla surrounding David's adoption, she decided to try to adopt from Malawi again? I am also curious about the legality of the adoption and if it went through merely because of her work there in Malawi. I am very interested in the parents of these children who place them in orphanages, presumably because they cannot care for them. Once the child is in the orphanage, does this mean the parent has given up rights concerning them? And are they raising a fuss mainly because the child is being adopted, because of WHO the adopting parent is, or because the child will be raised outside of the country? This is the only post I've read on this particular case, so maybe these answers are commonly known.
Orphanages in Africa (mostly all non Muslim orphanage) are very different than the rest of the world. I've lived in Africa for a while now and regularly visit some orphanages. THe orphanage know the parents of most kids, and their stories (most of them are HIV+). Those parents are either too sick to care for the children, or are just not interested. It does bother me when people from the west give us the crap about law and preserving the child's culture, etc. because having a kid here may mean many things. For instance, in South Africa, if a girl is over 20 and has never been pregnant, she is regarded as unwanted, infertile and most importantly, suspected to be HIV+. This is a culture where people have kids without planning for the future.
Regarding the laws of adoption.... most countries here have laws dating back for decades and they're really vague laws that people can easily get around them. Locals and foreigners and I'm pretty sure Madonna is not the first one to do that. Now in this specific case, the court initially didn't grant the adoption for the residency requirment. The Supreme court bended the definition of "residency" saying that in this day and age, it couldn't just mean literal residency and that Madonna has much presence in the country, which she regularly visits, to suffice calling her a resident.
I don't know how much authority parents have after putting their kids in orphanages, but its a good question. I'd rather take the African system where parents who put their children in orphanage give up their parental rights rather than the US system that gives so much power to the biological parents leaving their kids to rotate from one foster home to another for years, until their parents get their act together. At least in Africa, parents can learn that if they're not responsible enough, they shouldn't have kids.
Having said all that, I hope the best for Madonna, and I also hope this "father" disappears. I've met a lot of his kind and they're just after the $.
12080 points
wow! thanks for the in-depth reply!
48255 points
eyyy, Mercy finally get to have a real family :)))
Post new comment
When commenting, please be respectful to other INO readers. No racial, sexual or homophobic slurs will be tolerated.