Sheesh, trying to make sense of what’s going on with Madonna’s Malawi adoption requires quite a bit of effort. Last week, Malawi officials ruled that Madonna could not adopt the little 4-year-old orphan, Mercy James, that she’d hoped to take home with her, citing child trafficking concerns. “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children,” said the judge, “the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the weakness of the law of the land.”
So I don’t know shit about what’s going on with Malawi child trafficking, but I have to assume that the judge was trying to act in the greater good. I just don’t understand why else you’d refuse to let an orphan be adopted by a family who wanted to love and care for her, and is obviously equipped to do so. It breaks my heart, for the girl and for Madge and her family.
Even Mercy’s extended family wants her to live with Madonna. Her uncle told a British newspaper: “We as a family discussed this and agreed that it is in the best interests of Mercy to have her adopted, so why should the judge stop this if the family is OK with it?”
Now Madonna is back in London to celebrate Passover with her friends and family. Estranged hubby Guy Ritchie met her at the airport, although the two didn’t speak. Guy was mostly there to see his son with Madonna, David.
As Madonna disembarked her private jet, she was met by her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, who had published a statement following the ruling describing her as an “excellent mother”. The popstar looked tired and deflated as she descended the steps from the aircraft, hiding her face with her hair.
Ritchie approached the Gulfsteam jet with a smile on his face before the couple’s four-year-old son David Banda, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006, leapt into his arms. Madonna is said to be deeply upset after being forced to leave Malawi without Mercy, who she met last week.
She has appealed the decision and hearings are expected to begin on the matter next week.
Madonna is planning to stay in London with her daughter Lourdes, 12, to celebrate Passover with her friends from the Kabbalah Centre.
Awww, poor Madonna! This must be so heartbreaking. I hope she gets that damn kid.
I gotta tell you, I disagree with you on this one. I think Madonna’s inability to compromise with Guy Richie regarding their child’s upbringing illustrates a major parenting flaw. There are definitely worse parenting flaws to exhibit, but I don’t think Madonna wants this child for the right reasons.
I feel the same way.
That may be true. But I don’t know that you could make an argument for this child being better off in a Malawi orphanage than living with Madonna, who will, if nothing else, make sure she’s clothed and educated and fed and looked after.
Nice cheek implants.
madge didn;t get the kid because she did not follow the law in malawi, which states that she needed to reside in malawi for a year to be able to adopt. i think in the first adoption she had a different judge, who madonna most likely paid off to cirumvent the law. whether the girl would be “better off” with madonna or not doesn;t matter. the law is the law, and if she really wanted to be that girl’s mother she would have done whatever it took. i mean, come on – it’s not like she couldn’t buy a house there and take a year off. and she could still make sure the girl is fed and educated, but she won’t because she didn’t get her way. selfish cow.
Concur. If they let her break that law this time, what is stopping human traffickers from citing her case in order to “adopt” children for the slave/sex trade?
yes, the law is the law, but the reason it is in place (to safeguard against human trafficking) is obviously not the case here. I feel bad for Madonna, and definitely for little Mercy.
Child traffiking from orphanages in foreign countries, particularly the poorest ones, is actually a big concern. Many times, extended families will go along with such agreements as well, simply because they are so bad off that they need the money traffikers may provide on the side in exchange for the family expressing their agreement at them taking the child. There are actually many countries in Latin America that the US does not allow families to adopt from due to a vocally expressed disagreement with lax adoption policies that make traffiking the most prevalent in such places.
Granted, these laws, while designed as a safeguard, prevent some capable people of adopting. I don’t know if I’d describe Madge as capable, and I wonder about much of her wackiness and how it may affect her children, but I don’t think I’d argue that the girl would be better of starving in Africa. I think it’s just an unfortunate case of a law designed to help kids in this case doing the opposite.
now this is a flounder face!
sheesh.
Im sorry to say this but she is just too old to adopt a 4 year old. Think how old she will be when Mercy finishes college. For goodness sake she will be mistaken for granny when Mercy gets her degree. Maybe she could buy somewhere for the family to live and be something like a godmother to her.
what is she, 50? I disagree. She should still be fine while the kid is still a minor. And then after that, at the very least, she will have more than enough financial support for the child to attend school and follow her dreams, etc. Mercy would now have three siblings in the same circumstance. I don’t think it’s that bad.
Right. The child would be much better off starving to death or suffering some horrible disease and dying from lack of medical attention than to have her mother mistaken for her grandmother at college graduation.
You are to be commended for your insight.
Why doesn’t she donate some money to Mercy’s natural family so they can get a house where Mercy could live with them. I mean, wouldn’t it be best for the child at this point, to at least get her out of the orphanage? Or is this an all or nothing kind of deal with Madge?
I mean, we could all donate money and etc. But some people want a larger family, they want to adopt, they want another child. If they are able to financially support that child, I don’t think we should say what they should do instead. And Madonna has donated a lot of money to that area.
Wendy, could we get your take on this? I agree with you in advance.
The judge also stated that children should not be adopted out to foreign countries when there was a possibility for them to be adopted within the country.
Although I feel they are making a statement with Madge, chances are, she paid someone off to get David, or “influenced” them in some way,and this judge wanted to make a point that that would not always happen, to discourage child traffiking.
This has less to do with whether she is a good mother or not, or what is best for Mercy, sadly enough; but to prove that people must follow the laws in order to protect the children.
I agree with the poster above; if she is sooo into Malawi and conditions and rights, etc, is there not some wa, buying a house and living there for a year, that she could get the child?
Yuck…. take the make-up of her and she looks like common trailer park trash.
Maybe they don’t want their country to be seen as a child mill and encourage parents to bang out kids in the hopes a random celebrity will adopt it?
Amazing what makeup can do. She sure looks horrid without it. I agree with what Gary said.