A judge in Malawi denied Madonna’s petition to adopt 4-year-old Chifuto James from an orphanage in Malawi.  He cited a law that says that a prospective parent must live in Malawi for 18 months before being eligible to adopt a child from there.  He also said that this little girl was doing just fine in her orphanage, thank you very much.  Of course, this is all despite the fact that Madonna just adopted a little boy from Malawi in 2006 without being held to the residency requirement.

A human rights spokesperson in Malawi said this: “Inter-country adoption is not the best way of providing protection to children… they should grow up in familiar cultural and religious surroundings…”

That’s absolutely true…when it’s possible.  A spokesperson for the Malawi Justice Department said, “the judge believes she was being well taken care of in the orphanage.”

So, now an orphanage is just as good as a loving home?  I’m no fan of Madonna as an artist, but nobody’s ever said she was a bad parent.  And I don’t see a whole lot of Malawian families stepping up to give these kids homes.  It just seems wrong for a judge to decide that it’s better for a child to be in a Malawian orphanage than an American home (and doesn’t Madonna live in a castle in Scotland?)–one that even has siblings of the same ethnic and national background. 

International/interethnic adoption is controversial, I know that, believe me.  But there shouldn’t be a question as to whether institutions or loving homes are better for children, no matter what their background. 

Madonna with Malawian son David

Related posts:

1. Site Review: Adoption.com