Judge reject's Madonna adoption bid 'to protect African children'

MADONNA'S bid to adopt a second orphan from Malawi was rejected today.

A judge decided African children needed protecting from celebrities and said that adoptions could even encourage child
trafficking.

The shock ruling came less than three years after the same court allowed the pop star, 50, to adopt a baby boy, David Banda. Madonna's plan to take Mercy James, three, back to New York to grow up with the rest of her family now lies in tatters. Her lawyer said she will appeal.

In the ruling, Judge Esimie Chombo warned: "Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect.

"I must have to decline to grant the application to Madonna." Court registrars told reporters Madonna's bid to adopt Mercy, three, had not complied with rules requiring a prospective parent to be resident in Malawi for 18 to 24 months before an adoption takes place.

The residency requirement was waived when the singer adopted David, but it provoked a backlash with accusations she had used her money and influence to circumvent the rules. One human rights group even accused her of child trafficking.

But one source told the Evening Standard that Madonna's newly acquired single status may also have been a factor in today's unexpected ruling against her. The source pointed out she was married to Guy Ritchie when successfully adopting David in October 2006.

The source said: "The residency rule is not the real reason. They rejected this one because they didn't like her. That could be because she is no longer married. There will also have been political considerations. There was a furore over the baby David's adoption and the court won't have wanted a repeat of that."

Since adopting David, three, Madonna has poured huge sums into Malawi's orphanages and even built her own. She flew into Malawi on Sunday with David and her two biological children Lourdes, 12, and Rocco, eight.

It is not thought she was in court to hear today's ruling, although she attended a preliminary hearing earlier this week.

Madonna had selected Mercy on a previous visit to an orphanage. It is not clear how aware the girl would have been of how close she had come to a new life with a celebrity whose fortune is estimated at £300 million.

The child had spent only a small amount of time with Madonna. The source added: "I would guess Mercy would have been given a taste of the treats of living with a wealthy American family and now that has been taken away from her. It's very cruel."

Martin Lowdon, a trustee of the Malawi Orphan Fund, which raises money for the orphanage in which David spent the early part of his life, said today: "Malawian children should be raised in Malawi as Malawians. They should not be taken away to be raised by Americans. I would rather the money was spent caring for 100 orphans in Malawi than on adopting one and taking him or her to America."

Madonna's spokeswoman in the UK refused to comment today. "I don't know anything. We have not commented on it all along."

In court papers made public today, Madonna said Mercy's grandmother was unable to care for her. The singer had promised to make the child a permanent part of her family and spare her the "hardship and emotional trauma" of life as an orphan.

Mercy's mother, according to the affidavit, died aged 14 only days after her baby was born on 22 January 2006. There was no mention of the father. The mother's brother is listed as having consented to the adoption.