Madonna has been trying to adopt Chifundo “Mercy” James for what feels like forever. There has been a constant battle with the child’s father. Mercy, who has so far lived in Malawi, was put up for adoption. Her father, however, did not want to part with her entirely. Although he was willing to put her up for adoption, he wished for her to remain in the country. Madonna, on the other hand, wanted to bring Mercy back to the United States with her.
According to E!News, Madonna was approved by a High Court of Malawi for Mercy’s adoption after rights were denied by a lower court. One of the main reasons that Madonna was given adoptive rights is due to her charity, which is called Raising Malawi. Food, education, and medical care are provided to the children of Malawi through the funds of this charity. Her charity is one of the reasons that her petition was granted and, ultimately, is the reason that Mercy gets to now be a part of Madonna’s family.
Mercy is not the first child that Madonna has adopted from Malawi. Her three year old adopted son, David Banda, was also adopted from Malawi. During a trip in which she adopted David, Madonna was introduced to Mercy, who is four years old, and has been fighting for custody of the child ever since. In the past, Madonna has been reported saying that seeing Mercy was almost like love at first sight. After seeing her, she just knew that adopting the child was the one thing that she wanted more than anything else.
Mercy boarded a plane on June 19th, 2009, which was headed to London. This is where the child and Madonna would unite and begin their new life with one another.
Mercy and David are not Madonna’s only children. She has two others, which were not adopted. Their names are Lourdes, who is twelve years old, and Rocco, who is eight years old. Both of her children were from previous relationships.
E!News reports that Madonna said, “I am ecstatic…My family and I look forward to sharing our lives with her.” It is clear that Madonna is true to her word, after all of the fighting that she had to do to ensure that she would be given adoptive rights to Mercy.
Apparently, the suit for custody has been keeping Madonna pretty busy. The singer released her album Hard Candy in 2008. It was incredibly successful, with hits such as “4 Minutes” with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, “Give it 2 Me,” and “Miles Away.” The album has gotten fantastic reviews. There is no word yet on when Madonna’s next studio album will be released and the singer/actress does not appear to be working on much else.
