Madonna's adoption ruling delayed

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1013709 [headline] => Madonna's adoption ruling delayed [abstract] => A ruling on whether popstar Madonna can adopt a little Malawian girl has been delayed until Friday.
[keywords] => Madonna, adoption, child, Malawi [content] =>

Madonna and her three children has toured a day care centre built by her charity as critics slammed the star's attempt to adopt a second child from Malawi, and a judge delayed a ruling in the case until Friday.

Some child advocacy groups say the 50-year-old pop star's plans to adopt a young Malawian girl have been fast-tracked because of Madonna's money and status. One accused her of acting like a rich "bully".

After spending about an hour in court on Monday, Madonna swapped her high heels and formal skirt for camouflage trousers and big black boots for an outing into the hot, lush Malawian countryside.

Three kids touring with star

Holding the hand of three-year-old David, whose adoption from Malawi was finalised last year, the singer walked around the compound of the Mphandula child care centre, about 50 km  from the capital.

Madonna also was accompanied by her 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and eight-year-old son Rocco - who sported a mohawk haircut for his first visit to Malawi.

The centre, which provides primary schooling and other child care to about 4,000 children, boasts neatly cut lawn, swings and slides, and freshly painted classrooms.

This was the first time the star had seen the day care centre completed. On her last visit in 2007, construction had just started. Asked by reporters how she liked the progress made, Madonna gave a thumbs up.

In one room, Madonna tried her hand at basket-weaving under the watchful eye of a few local woman. David was given a cow-skin guitar as a gift, and he pretended to strum the strings.

Adoption plan criticised

Meanwhile, a coalition of non-governmental organisations held a press conference in the capital, Lilongwe, criticising the pop star's latest adoption application.

"We feel Madonna is behaving like a bully," said Undule Mwakusungula, chairman of the Human Rights Consultative Committee. "She has the money and the status to use her profile to manipulate, to fast-track the process."

Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, in New York did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The girl Madonna is hoping to adopt is about four years old, according to a Malawian welfare official and another person involved in the proceedings who both confirmed an adoption application was under way. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is considered sensitive.

Child's mother died

Monday's court roll listed only the child's name - Chifundo James, which means "Mercy" in a local language. Her uncle, John Ngalande, has said she was turning four soon.

The girl's 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she was born, the uncle said. Her father is believed to be alive but has little contact with his daughter, he said.

The coalition's Mwakusungula told reporters 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," the coalition said.

Court case

Mabvuto Bamusi, the coalition's national co-ordinator, said they were asking the court to uphold the country's laws and to "fully" assess Madonna's second adoption bid.

"Celebrities adopting children are merely taking advantages of weaknesses in our country," he said.

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.

David's adoption was a trying process for the singer, who has said the storm of criticism hurt.

The boy's mother died when he was a month old. His father has said he believed he could not care for David alone, and that placing the boy in an orphanage was the best way to ensure his survival.

Earlier on Monday, David spent 2 hours with his biological father at an exclusive lodge where the pop star is staying.

Madonna 'provides advantages'

"I was very happy to see him," the father, Yohane Banda, told AP, adding David did not recognise him. "He asked me who I was."

Standing outside the courthouse with a number of other curious onlookers, E Ngulinga said he understood the criticism directed at the pop star but that it was hard to deny a child the kind of opportunities offered by Madonna.

"That baby is going to have the advantages of going to school and of becoming someone," he said. "Here it is very difficult."

Ngulinga said he hoped the girl and David would return when they were older to help Malawi, an impoverished country where 14 per cent of adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The UN estimates that half of the 1 million Malawian children who have lost one or both parents have been orphaned by AIDS.

Madonna first travelled to Malawi in 2006 while filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis. Her Raising Malawi organisation, founded in 2006, raises funds to provide food, shelter, education and health care for children.

 

[start_date] => 31 March 2009 | 09:27:45 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => Madonna with her adopted child David Banda In 2007 (AP) [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 69653 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_1930923669_madonna_david_adoption_3103_b_ap.jpg [title] => madonna_david_adoption_3103_B_ap_1930923669 [description] => file:site_1_rand_1930923669_madonna_david_adoption_3103_b_ap.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-03-31 09:37:15 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [id] => 122436 [label] => Madonna adoption challenged [display_order] => 2 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 122436 [headline] => Madonna adoption challenged [abstract] => A judge in Malawi has allowed a coalition of human rights groups to proceed with a legal challenge to US pop star Madonna's adoption of an African baby boy. [content] => A judge in Malawi has allowed a coalition of human rights groups to proceed with a legal challenge to US pop star Madonna's adoption of an African baby boy.

Judge Andrew Nyirenda ruled that the coalition of 67 rights groups could be regarded as "friends of the court" along with the state-sponsored Malawi human rights commission and therefore pursue their application for a full review of an interim custody order.

"The applications from both applicants are accordingly granted and they are both joined as amicus curiae," said the two-page judgment.

"I believe the applicants mean well and this court will certainly benefit from the applicants' researched opinions."

The coalition first lodged a petition before the court last month, claiming that existing legislation did not allow for intra-country adoptions and asking for the right to bring a full-fledged appeal at a later hearing.

The granting of an 18-month interim custody order, which enabled
Madonna to take young David Banda out of Malawi, sparked heated debate about adoption laws in a country where the number of orphans is surging as a result of AIDS.

The judge, who did not set a date for a full review of the interim adoption order, made clear that Madonna's legal team in Malawi had not raised any objection to the applications.

"Counsel for the petitioners has no objection to the application. Likewise I see no reason to refuse the applications," said the judge.

A lawyer for the coalition, which is known as the human rights consultative committee, expressed satisfaction with the verdict of the judge.

"We are happy with the ruling. We will be holding a joint meeting with the Malawi human rights commission to look at how we can approach the whole issue," Justin Dzodzi said.

"We will be bringing substantive arguments before the court's determination. Our main interest is to assist the court to address adoption issues comprehensively," he added.

Madonna's chief lawyer in Malawi, Alan Chinula, came to the court in the afternoon to collect copy of the ruling.

He did not speak to reporters after entering the building via a back entrance normally used by judges.

Chinula has previously said that Madonna had "followed the adoption process to the letter" of the law.

Baby David is now living with Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie in London, even though would-be adoptive parents are usually subject to an 18-month monitoring period by social workers in Malawi.

Madonna has denied using her wealth to fast-track the process while David's father Yohane Banda has called on the coalition to drop their action for fear that the singer will return the child to a life of poverty back home. [content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 30 November 2006 [articletime] => 30 November 2006 [display_order] => 2 ) ) [comments] => Array ( ) ) [winston] => test )