Madonna to adopt one more child

LONDON, England
Tashi Morup

March 31, 2009 ( 6:13:43 AM BST)

Shrugging off objections pop star Madonna went on with her plan to adopt one more child from poverty stricken Malawi of Africa.

The singer has reportedly arrived in the east African country to take custody of a four-year-old Malawian girl Mercy James, however, British based charity group Save the Children objected to it.

Save the Children argued that foreign adoptions should happen only if a child did not have any relative.

"International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve," Dominic Nutt of Save the Children said.

Mercy’s relatives did not know the whereabouts of her father; they have, however, consented to the adoption. Madonna and the girl's uncle would appear in court to sign adoption papers on Monday, ITN reported.

Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg, while refusing to comment on the adoption reports, told ITN that the star would not respond to Save the Children.

Reports appeared in ITN news channel confirmed that officials in Malawi's capital Lilongwe were expecting 50-years-old Madonna to arrive later on Sunday. The luxury lodge where she has stayed in the past was fully booked.

An extended family
Mother of two from her ex-husbands Carlos and Guy Ritchie, Madonna earlier adopted David Banda (now 3) from Malawi after building an orphanage there. Mercy would be her fourth child.

She has used her fame to raise awareness about problems and diseases facing Malawi, especially children, through her documentary film ‘I Am Because We Are’ and other welfare programmes in South-eastern African nation.

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TASHI MORUP

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