Madonna allowed to adopt second child Mercy from Malawi

Three-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James – the southern African country’s highest court has ruled.

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A judge gave the singer permission as he overturned a lower court decision, saying it was out of touch with the times.

Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo said the star’s commitment to helping disadvantaged children should have been taken into account when deciding on her request to adopt three-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James.

Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, which helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi’s more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost a parent to Aids.

Children’s welfare groups had expressed concern that rules meant to protect children were being bent because of Madonna’s celebrity, and perhaps out of gratitude for what she has done for Malawi, one of the world’s poorest and most Aids-ravaged countries.

Madonna had appealed after a lower court ruled she could not adopt the girl because the singer had not spent enough time in Malawi.

The lower court said residency rules had been bent when Madonna adopted her son David from Malawi last year.

But the appeals court said that was a narrow interpretation based on old laws, and that in the modern world it was possible to be resident in more than one place at a time.

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