Harlepolis said:

From what I hear, all of the kids are really smart, happy, and polite. For celeb kids that's saying a whole lot.

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

and the same can be said vice versa

kremlinshadow said:

I got the joke as well, but then I'm British too. It's mostly Americans here, so I think it was a little off their radar.

Why don't people adopt domestically? There are thousands of American and Canadian children trapped in the foster care system, waiting for their "forever family".


Or, since she's living in the UK, I believe, British children.
[Edited 6/17/09 11:16am]

midnightmover said:

Funny part of my nationality is british as well.

meow85 said:

Unfortunately Madonna was/is "too old" to adopt or even foster in some places in the West. I believe that the UK has something like a 35 year old cap on adoption or being a "carer".

In terms of the US, it's kinda hard to adopt a young kid in foster care. The system prefers to reunite kids w/ bio parents. Most of the kids available for adoption are far older than the kids she's gotten from Malawi.

Her changing marital status from when she got David probably had to do w/ the delay getting this kid.

I think she chose a place in Africa because her age is an asset, unlike most of the West. Many older (say mid 50s+) and single women are raising children all over the continent, so her age didn't work against her.
[Edited 6/17/09 11:43am]

Can't wait for this movie...



...and I'm sure that Mercy's life will soon resemble this movie...

You're just jealous that YOU didn't get adopted by Madonna. But seriously, Why are you people are so negative about this? Madonna adopted Mercy as a humanitarian effort! She rescued her from a life of hardship in Malawi.

midiscover said:

[Edited 6/17/09 14:46pm]

Mstrustme said:

meow85 said:

Why does it matter where a child is from? A child that needs love and a parent is still a child no matter where it was born. Why does everyone think the Us and the UK are superior places and deserve help first? To me that reads like code for she should adopt a child that is of the same race she is.
As far as I know, Madonna never made an effort to look into adoption in the US or the UK. She became involved in charity work in Malawi so she wanted to help the children there she met in the orphanages there.

Glindathegood said:

Thank you.

brooksie said:

If she adopted in the US her age wouldn't be a problem. Why not adopt an older kid? I know that adopting an older child can have challenges adopting a baby doesn't but it seems wrong to me that people can just go and pick up a kid from another country when there are so many at home who need someone to love them.

Glindathegood said:

Race has nothing to do with it. All I meant is that there are literally thousands of children in western countries who will NEVER get adopted, and this is in part because so many people who choose adoption go overseas.

meow85 said:

You know I'm glad you mention that I always hated that some people would only adopt babies/toddlers and not older child, who could possbly suffer from psycological/emotional problems because of this. I understand older child are a handful but still it just makes me mad when people just prefer smaller children to older ones and I especially hate when they tear siblings apart from each other, sometimes never seeing each other again.

NastradumasKid said:

I hate that stuff too.

I wasn't adopted, but plenty of my friends and family were so it's something I feel strongly about.

In a few years when I have a steadier source of income I plan to adopt.

meow85 said:

I'm glad you do. Every child deserves a home regardless of age.

Madonna wasn't living in the US when she got the 1st kid, so that might play apart of it. It seems she always planned on adopting another child from Malawi when she adopted David.

Another thing I've heard about is fitting a new child into a family based on the pre-existing age issues. IOW, bringing a child in that some how leapfrogs the age might be an issue for some.

One more thing on the age issue, in the case of Madonna specifically, how would an older child suddenly adjust to her fame and extreme lifestyle? There's always a question about this, but Madonna and Angelina live such extreme lifestyles and the kids will have to fit in.

Glindathegood said:

meow85 said:

Sheryl Crow adopted within the US.

SCORPI09 said:

The fact that she has a charity, which gives financial assistance to Malawi's children, is what provides the "icky factor" for me... You know, the charity is called Raising Malawi and... I can't realy verbalise what I feel about this. It's almost like she's raising livestock. It's like she's treating the whole country as her own personal baby farm.

It's admirable that she's pouring money into the country, but I wish she hadn't mixed business with pleasure; it debases her intentions to many.

And I don't think that Madonna's lifestyle is... I don't want to say she's a bad mother - I don't know her. I just think that giving a child your undivided attention is more important than giving them a seat on a private jet to visit their fathers, every once in a while. I know that she has homes in NYC and London, the places Lourdes and Rocco's fathers live, but would she ever buy a home in Malawi to spend any comparable amount of time there?

GirlBrother said:

I can only imagine

trueiopian said:

The People Under the Stairs

brooksie said:

Angelina Jolie has mentioned that she is a big fan of what Josephine Baker did decades ago. Josephine adopted two children from each country (10 total I believe) and dubbed them her 'Rainbow Tribe'. Josephine did it because she experienced such horrendous racism throughout her life that she wanted to prove to everybody that children of different races and backgrounds could live together in peace and harmony. Unfortunately, she died broke and most of those children were sent back to ophanages, but it's great to see that someone sees what she did as being something worth emulating in this day and age. I have huge respect for what Angelina and Brad Pitt are doing regardless of how many people think it's just a publicity ploy. She has been a huge advocate for children's rights for years now and has used her celebrity status to bring light to their cause, just like Madonna is doing now.

Unlike American orphanages or foster care homes, many third world countries don't have lots of rules and regulations about proper care for orphaned children; plus, many of them are extremely over-crowded and under-financed. I believe that Madonna is doing this because she sees the conditions that these children are being raised in and wants to change them, which is outstanding.

I have a friend who works in child protective services and the stories she has told me are absolutely ridiculous and completely uncalled for. Seriously, people should be forced to take a series of tests before being allowed to have children from the many stories she's told me about these defenseless, innocent children. Breaks my heart to hear what people would do to a child, let alone their own child. .

She told me that most kids in foster care or ophanages here in the US are usually much older kids. She said that with the younger kids, they usually try to wait for their biological parents to adhere to the guidelines they have given them and if they do, they usually get their children back. Sadly, it's not the little children that are the worst cases. She said that there have been lots of times when they will be transporting a teenager to a new foster home and the kid will just haul ass and disappear. She said that one of the workers would initially request to these kids to at least wait for her to stop the car before running because more than one would just open the door as the car was moving and take off running.

I think it's great for anyone to adopt a child and it saddens me that many people seem to be soo adverse to the idea of adoption. So many cases of women who can't have children, who will spend all of this money, time, and energy doing expensive in vitro treatments, donors, or surrogates because, 'they want a baby that will look like them'. Sorry, but a baby is a baby; a child is a child. They all need love regardless of whether they look like you or not. I find this to be very shallow and narrow-minded thinking and quite sad really.

I think I feel this way, because I work with animals and I see so many people who will go and pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to buy a puppy from a pet shop (most often puppy mill puppies) instead of just going to the SPCA or a rescue group and adopting a similar breed. All these people are doing is helping more and more animals get put to sleep due to over-crowding and yet these same people will cry to me about how it's soo sad that animals in the shelter get put down. Makes me sick to my stomach and half of the time I just walk away from these individuals in disgust. All creatures, big and small; two-legged or four-legged; furry or hairless; are all made by the same higher power and all deserve equal respect and love.

I commend anybody, whether celebrity or not, who understands that life is soo much more than outward appearances. Love is blind, as they say, and children and animals are the purest love you'll ever get to experience in this lifetime, but that's just my

GirlBrother said:

You can't compare Mercy's father to Carlos Leon and Guy Ritchie. Mercy's father left her mother even before she was born and made no effort to find her for 4 years. She doesn't even know who he is. Carlos and Guy were involved in their kids' live since birth or in the case of David from when David first became his child. Lourdes, Rocco and David know and are emotionally connected to their fathers so it's important to keep in touch.
Being a father is not just about biology, it's also about emotional connection and commitment.
I think Madonna is a good mother. No parent gives their child their undivided attention 24 hours a day. Most mothers work or have other things going on in their life in addition to their kids. I think Madonna like most women today balance their work and their kids the best they can.

estelle81 said:

I don't think the Rainbow Tribe concept is anything to emulate at all. This was incredibly difficult on the kids involved. Mia Farrow would probably be a better exampe than Josephine Baker. As for all the animals stuff, I'll say nothing except that children don't remain small forever and they WILL talk back.

It's also not so true anymore than 3rd world countries are wide open for foreign adoptions. Madonna's adoption from Malawi is exceptionally rare. AFAIK, Madonna is only one of 3 families in the whole world who's been allowed to adopt from there in recent years. The other 2 are Canadian families who have a long standing relationship w/ Malawi, its culture, and working to improve the lives of people there.

Its good what she's doing , but at the same time- I think she's done this all for publicity.

There are a ton of children who are available in the United States for adoption.
[Edited 6/21/09 13:37pm]

comegetwild said:

Nah, just you.

suga10 said:

No,I don't buy that theory.Madonna is already one of the most famous women on the planet.She wouldn't need to adopt an African child to gain more publicity.

I'll never know what's in Madonna's heart, but on the outside it seems as if she's just adding something (in this case, a child) to her "collection" for publicity.