LILONGWE, 1 April 2009 (IRIN) - Madonna, 50, the world's wealthiest female singer, is confronting the same controversy that accompanied her first adoption of a Malawian child; the difference is that this time she is a single mother.

Malawi's courts are expected to rule on 3 April on Madonna's petition for an 18-month interim adoption order for a four-year-old girl named Mercy, which local human rights organizations have termed as just another round of "child trafficking" by the rich and famous.

Mercy's mother reportedly died five days after giving birth to her, and since then she has lived in an orphanage. Details of her father remain unclear.

Ben Fellows, a film maker and friend of the singer, who was adopted as a child, told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that the singer knew she would arrive in a "storm", but "Once Madonna has put her mind to something, she achieves it - and this adoption is no different. She told me she thought it was very important that David had a sister."

Madonna, estimated to be worth in excess of US$500 million, adopted a 13-month-old Malawian, David Banda, in 2006, while she was still married to English film director Guy Ritchie, who she divorced after an eight-year marriage in November 2008. She has an eight-year-old son with Ritchie, and a 12-year-old daughter from fitness instructor Carlos Leon.

The Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), an umbrella body of local human rights NGOs, is arguing that in Madonna's case, wealth and fame have applied a different yardstick for adoption, while the laws governing the issue remain as opaque as they were in 2006.

"In absence of clear laws and procedures, all this process of adoption amounts to nothing but child trafficking," HRCC's national coordinator, Mavuto Bamusi, told IRIN.

Malawian law prohibits non-nationals from adopting a local child unless they have been resident in the country for at least 18 months.

"She must follow procedure. She is simply using her profile and money to manipulate the process. We should not be seen to be legalizing child trafficking," Bamusi said.

When Madonna petitioned the courts for David's adoption in 2006, her time in one of the world's poorest countries was measured in weeks, rather than months. She arrived in the country this week.

Bamusi maintains that international adoption should be a last resort, after the options of foster care, local adoption and residential care have been exhausted.

"It is an unfortunate scenario, in that someone is trying to take advantage of the weak laws to abuse the system. I also feel that children should be adopted into families that are stable. Madonna just got divorced."

The same issues arose in Madonna's adoption of David three years ago, and led to calls for an overhaul of the adoption laws that came under such scrutiny at the time, but government has yet to act.

Around three-quarters of Malawi's 12 million people live on less than US$2 a day, and about one million children are orphaned, primarily as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"We also blame government for delaying to table the Child Protection Bill, which is very crucial in ensuring that the rights of Malawian children, including those of orphans, are adopted," said HRCC chairperson Undule Mwakasungura.

Save the Children UK, an international NGO that advocates the rights of children, has publicly asked the singer to "think twice" before adopting a second Malawian child.

Dominic Nutt, a spokesman for the organization, warned that international adoptions could exacerbate the issues they hoped to solve. "The very existence of orphanages encourages poor parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life," he said.

Malawians siding with Madonna

The hope that the controversial artist could sneak into the country were blown before she arrived, after local newspapers splashed the news of the imminent adoption and sparked an intense debate.

On arrival Madonna gave an exclusive interview to the privately owned Daily Nation newspaper, in which she said she would only consider adopting another child if the government and Malawians supported it.

The Daily Nation's position was clear in a post-interview editorial: "This child is being given a future that many children in Malawi can't even dream about. For HRCC to decide to pay a blind eye and once again cause problems for the adoption of another Malawian child is scandal of great magnitude."

Talk radio programmes have talked of little else since Madonna arrived. "Most of our listeners support this adoption. They say human rights organizations should not waste time to block the adoption of a poor child who will be freed from disease and poverty," Capital Radio's presenter, Mary Innocencia Segula, told IRIN.

"They think the NGOs are just greedy and would want the support that goes to orphans and poor children to be channelled through them so they can get something out of it," Segula said.

One caller, who only identified himself as Michael, commended Madonna as a mother. "Look at David – who could have loved that boy the way Madonna does?"

Ibrahim Bokosi, another caller to Capital Radio, said: "Madonna has been a very good mum to David, so give the girl [Mercy] a chance to live with her as well. If she fails to go, will the NGOs look after her, or concentrate on buying four-by-four vehicles for themselves?"

Chimwemwe Chisi, a father of two living in Malawi's second city, Blantyre, told IRIN that foreigners jet in and break the laws in the name of trying to help the orphaned and the poor.

"I am not being indifferent, but government should not be applying double standards in this case. How special is Madonna that she bends the rules and gets away with it? Just like anyone else, she must follow the laid-down procedure," he said.

Celebrity adoptions

Madonna's attempt at a second international adoption follows a well-worn path first opened by American actress Mia Farrow, widely regarded as the pioneer of celebrity adoptions.

In 1973 Farrow adopted a Vietnamese orphan and is now the mother of 14 children, one of whom, on reaching adulthood, began a relationship with Farrow's partner, film director Woody Allen.

Angelina Jolie, Hollywood star and Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has eclipsed Madonna to some degree by adopting three children: a daughter from Ethiopia and sons from Cambodia and Vietnam. She has had three children with her partner, Brad Pitt, none of who were born in Pitt's and Jolie's native US.

In 2007 Jolie publicly attacked Madonna's decision to adopt children in Malawi. The actress told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper: "Madonna knew the situation in Malawi ... It's a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption. Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law."

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, an international agreement signed by 75 participating states, has procedures deemed to be in the best interests of the child and to prevent the "abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children".

Malawi is not a participating state, nor is Ethiopia, Vietnam, or the US; Cambodia is a signatory. However, not being a participating state does not make international adoptions illegal in these countries.

The nationality of children adopted by celebrities does not appear to influence the choices of other prospective parents, according to available statistics. The US State Department's Office of Children's Issues notes that there have been four adoptions from Malawi to the US since and including 2006.

From 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008 Americans adopted 1,725 children from Ethiopia, making it the fourth most popular country for adoptions to the US. Nigeria was the second African country on the list at 15th with 148 children. Vietnam was in the top ten with 748 adoptions. The last two adoptions registered in Cambodia to the US were in 2006.

State department figures also noted that 17,433 children were adopted by American families from countries outside of the US in 2008, and the highest number of inter-country adoptions recorded since 1998 was 22,884 in 2004.

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