Madonna’s Adoption Delayed; Baby’s Grandma Says She’s “Stealing” Child

Madonna did not get her adoption approved. The singer, 50, spent about an hour in court Monday morning in the Malawi capital of Lilongwe, where a judge delayed ruling on her application to adopt a second Malawian child, 3-year-old Mercy James, until Friday. (The child’s name was listed on Monday’s court docket.) Court official Thomson Ligowe would not reveal any other information. The 4-year-old would have been a sister for David, whose adoption by the U.S. pop star aroused controversy, and comes from the same orphanage.

It was originally reported from an official at the ministry of Gender and Child Development that Mercy James had no father and mother as both had died, they both died. But Mercy James’ grandmother, 61-year-old Lucy Chekechiwa, is reportedly against Madonna’s decision to adopt. (Mercy James’ single teen mother died at age 18; the girl’s father is believed to be alive.) “Why doesn’t this singer pick other children?” she told Britain’s The Sun. “It is stealing. I want to go to to court. I won’t let her go.” It is unknown if Chekechiwa was at court Monday.

Madonna arrived in the African nation Sunday with her children, Lourdes, 12, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 3, whom she adopted from the same orphanage in Malawi in 2007. Criticism over her decision to adopt continued to brew over the weekend. Children’s advocacy groups accuse her of using her wealth and influence to get around Malawian law requiring an 18- to 24-month assessment period before adoption.

Save the Children UK charity adds that her second adoption is sending the wrong message, encouraging poor parents “to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life.”

The singer’s 2008 divorce from Guy Ritchie has also upset the children’s charity, Eye of the Child. Said director Maxwell Matewere, “We should never allow our children to be placed into broken families.”

Meanwhile, David’s biological father, Yohane Banda, reunited with his son Monday morning. Yohane said David asked him lots of questions in English (the two were able to talk with the help of a translator). Said Banda, “David resembles his half brother Dingiswayo a lot; I think they will click easily when the two brothers meet.”

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