Madonna’s Adoption Troubles a Mirror for Africa
EmailABC News Digital’s Dana Hughes reports from Nairobi:
Shock went around the world when a Malawian judge denied the petition of pop superstar Madonna to adopt a second child from the southern African country. Last week, the 50-year-old singer and her three children flew to Malawi, hoping to finalize the adoption of 4-year-old Mercy James, a little girl living in an orphanage. But there was just one problem. Malawi’s adoption laws are strict; international prospective parents must have resided in the country for 18 to 24 months prior to adopting. Madonna, who has donated millions of dollars to various causes in Malawi and even made a documentary about its children, still has never resided there. On those grounds, the judge in the case rejected her request today.
“Put simply, courts do not make law by the process of precedents and Miss Madonna may not be the only international person interested in adopting the so-called poor children of Malawi,” the judge stated. “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts, by their pronouncements, could facilitate the trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the law of the land.”
Most Africans I’ve talked to don’t think letting Madonna adopt the girl will open the floodgates to children being trafficked out of Malawi; after all, she had the law waived when she adopted her son David Banda three years ago. But there is a sense of uneasiness. I keep hearing the questions: “This girl has a grandmother and uncles nearby. Why doesn’t she give money to the family so that they can raise her?” and “Why does she think she shouldn’t have to follow the law? Because she’s rich and American and this is Africa?”
Malawi’s adoption laws are actually quite similar to those in most African countries. In Kenya, for example, a family must reside in the country for at least a year before beginning adoption proceedings. I’ve interviewed an American family who actually spent more than a year here and nearly $100,000 to get through the bureaucracy of a Kenyan adoption only to be told they couldn’t adopt one child and had to take another. In Rwanda, which has hundreds of thousands of orphans as a result of the country’s genocide and subsequent AIDS epidemic, some officials have said they do not want masses of foreigners adopting the orphaned children, calling the prospect “another form of genocide.”
Even the idea of official adoption is a foreign concept to most African cultures where tradition dictates that children belong not to individual parents, but to entire villages. Here, if a parent dies, a grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin or family friend takes the child in. In the past, the idea of an orphan simply didn’t exist. But that was before AIDS and urbanization and long-standing brutal wars. Now, in many countries, there are more orphans than communities willing and able to care for them.
Malawi, devastated by the AIDS epidemic, has nearly 2 million orphaned children. Supporters of Madonna argue that the controversy shouldn’t be over her possibly skirting the adoption laws, but whether the laws are still in the best interest of the children or the country. Those supporters include officials from the Malawian government.
“We can’t look after all [the orphans] as a country,” Women and Child Welfare Development Minister Anna Kachikho told the Associated Press. “If people like Madonna adopt even one such orphan, it’s one mouth less we have to feed.”
With tens of millions of orphans throughout the continent having no place to go and no one to care for them, the debate over Madonna’s efforts represents more than just a challenge to Malawi’s adoption laws. It speaks to fundamental African families value, and how they may be changing whether Africans like it or not.
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It would be interesting to see what Mercy’s life would be in another 5 years.
Posted by: Shirley J | April 3, 2009, 2:06 pm 2:06 pm
So, the judge claims the ruling will protect children…yeah, like they are taking such good care of them. I am no Madonna fan but she wanted to make a difference in one child’s life. How angry do you think the child will be when she realizes she was forced to grow up in an orphanage and missed a golden ticket. Sad.
Posted by: chipper | April 3, 2009, 2:36 pm 2:36 pm
i think that Madonna has good intentions but how could any child live a normal life with a person like her? it just seems to be a fad for the Hollywood elite to buy children like they buy everything else. there are so many chhildren to adopt in the US. i cannot understand the fetish for foreign children. it seems like a proclivity of wealthy, white Americans who buy children with the same minset that they buy exotic, foreign automobiles. and it’s not like Madonna and Pitt and the like just want to adopt a foreign child sight unseen. they visit orphanages and choose specific children based on their tastes, like the average american would adopt an animal based on cuteness factor.
Posted by: Paul Wall | April 3, 2009, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm
Whats wrong with American kids and there are thousands that need adoption.
Why do celebrities, with all the money in the world go elsewhere to adopt. Cant we take care of our own first?
Posted by: CAW | April 3, 2009, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
Clearly our fascination with celebrity fuels the Madonna side of this story. I’d like to focus on another side that few people question, what I will call the “Africa syndrome”.
One day we will stop identifying stories from Africa as, well, African stories. This incident happened in a country called Malawi. If this happened in Italy, would we report that “Madonna’s attempt to adopt a baby from Europe was rejected”? Would we say that adoptions from Europe by celebrities were a disturbing trend?
Africa is a continent, one that is three times the size of the continental United States. It is an incredibly diverse continent, yet our cultural ignorance and history of racism continues to resonate today in covering stories from “Africa”. I’m not saying that it has anything to do with racism today, but the way we treat “Africa”, even in news stories from the continent, reflect our understanding of the context of those stories. Consider President Bush’s 11-words about “uranium from Africa” that led us to war in Iraq. One day, we will report stories from Malaai with the same deliberate and matter-of fact manner as we do stories from Italy or Spain or England or anywhere else.
When that day happens, it will reflect our own cultural awareness of the depth of this continent. We will treat stories from Nigeria as Nigerian stories. We will follow civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the same concern we do in Iraq. We will appreciate the impact of Islam on countries like Morocco, Algeria and several others. We will know the early history of Christianity in Ethiopia. We will grasp the beauty of Ghana. We will be able to identify Zimbabwe on a map with the same ease as we do Italy or France.
When we can treat the people of “Africa” as citizens of the countries they live in, something else amazing will happen. We won’t be following stories about adoption in Africa.
Posted by: Brandt Robinson | April 3, 2009, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm
I’m an American raising an Indian child in India. Why? Because I believe it’s better for her to be raised inside her own culture and surrounded by extended family even though she is denied the freedoms and luxuries of children from wealthier nations. Stories written often pretend that there are no problems in the wealthy states, that freedom brings all the happiness one could hope for. Perhaps Malawi already understands this, too.
I’ve watched Madonna over the years and while I can’t speak to her motherhood I can say it’s a bit disturbing to be the type of performer your own kids can’t watch. Give her a pole, put her in the red light district and, well… I can’t fault public opinion who feels that morals ought to come into play. I’m not impressed with Madonna either as a performer or person. Although her behavior re:adoption might appear to mirror Pitt/Jolie nothing could be further from the truth as Madonna craves the spotlight and controversy.
Ask yourself the simple question: Would you want Madonna raising your kid?
Posted by: Vgbnz | April 6, 2009, 6:19 pm 6:19 pm
The sheer gall of this reporter and the article’s implication is too much to stomach.
: Brandt Robinson | Apr 3, 2009 7:43:31 PM
Brandt, thanks for shedding light on my continent, where i originally came from.
I say to madonna to hell with you and your likes. Aren’t there babies here in the US and Europe to adopt? Do you think countries in Africa and Malawi especially have no laws? Follow the laws or get lost.
How angry do you think the child will be when she realizes she was forced to grow up in an orphanage and missed a golden ticket. Sad.
Posted by: chipper | Apr 3, 2009 6:36:18 PM
You really think a child growing up in wealth will be better than a child from poor background. You ought to be ahsamed of yourself for your ignorance. Do you know what will happen tomorrow? if so please go buy some stocks or play the lottery and you wouldn’t be wasting your time on abc newsite.
Posted by: benjamin | April 6, 2009, 8:00 pm 8:00 pm
I’m an African.In most African countries life is very difficult.For example in my country, theirs wild spread of poorvarsity,no job ,crime,lack of social amenity ,very bad government ,fight,Child slavry ,child trafficking being carried out by the so called people in power and many more .And its like That in most African countries not to talk of Malawi.All these facts are open.The world knows it all .Most Africans are praying for orppunity to move to Europe,America or any other place they think they can fine greener pasture.Now we are talking of a of a very poor girl whose future lies in the hands of God .Someone came to Adopt her which i see as a Golden orpputunity for her .And not that she is adopting her in secrete .The world is watching her .Dew to Arrogant they refuse the child the this opportunity to break the yoke of poverty in her life and the benefit her friends will get through her .That’s too bad .I strongly believe that the girl could have had the opportunity to go to a better school which will transform her life and become a better person in future .which will in turn be a helper to others in socity .But they denied her that great opportunity .Too bad .
Posted by: Feco | April 7, 2009, 10:05 pm 10:05 pm
But adopted kids look so out of place in her family. They look like little black tag alongs–poeple dont care about adopted kids they want to see a STARS bio children. Lourdes & Rocco! Blood and genes do count!
These kids have to grow up put side their own culture and religon
Posted by: TJ | January 30, 2010, 5:09 pm 5:09 pm