Madonna “Controversial” Adoption

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   Reading through the press and various statements by human rights groups you would be forgiven for thinking Madonna had kidnapped a child from Milawi. Just to clear this up Madonna hasn’t kidnapped anyone, she has been given full permission to adopt by the appropriate authorities. Madonna’s been accused of everything over this adoption from encouraging human trafficking to only adopting the cute children, and it got me thinking why can’t they leave her alone?

    The first thing everyone wants to know is why pick a child from Milawi. Now I’m not a close personnel friend of Madonna but I think the answers obvious. Way before she adopted David Banda Madonna was doing charity work for Milawi. She was putting her own money into school’s and orphanages. Rumour has it she wanted to adopt another child anyway and what would be the point of trying to encourage others to put money into Milawi if she wasn’t prepared to do the same. She claims she spotted David in a video where he was ravaged with illness and she just wanted to protect him the rest is history. Of course the adoption of David was controversial in itself because no laws at the time were in place for this kind of adoption so Madonna was accused of taking advantage. David Banda has since flourished with his new parents with even his biological father claiming how happy he is with Madonna and Guy Ritchies parenting skills. Madonna has encouraged him to be taken back to his place of origin. She is apparently making sure he knows his heritage and teaching him the language of Milawi.

   The next accusation had been “would she ever adopt a disabled child?” To me this is an unfair question. Hundreds of people each year adopt children all over the world not every person can choose or will choose a disabled child. Many people choose not to adopt a disabled child simply because they are working parents who simply wouldn’t have the time to cope with disability. For many adoptive parents it may be the first time they are interacting with children and it can make the transition from single people to parents more difficult with a disabled child. No child across the world deserves to be adopted more than the next so why make this statement. This question was posed by a human rights group to make this statement they should contact anybody who has adopted in the last five years and ask them why they chose an able bodied child over the disabled child. It’s not a fair question.

   The next point has been Madonna not following the rules. By Milawian law a parent is meant to be resident in the country for at least 18 months. Now ideally this is something that could happen, but if Malawi really expects people from the West to come and adopt children there going to have to see past it. Your average parent looking to adopt a child in the U.K or the U.S does not have the time or the money to take 18 months out of there lives to go to Milawi. So if they really want people from the West to go to Milawi this rule must be revised.

   Another statement made time and time again is Madonna’s work. Madonna is due to tour again this summer and some people claim since she’s only just adopted she should cancel her work load. If Madonna was an office worker adopting no-one would bat an eyelid if she returned to work 2 weeks after the adoption for the simple reason that as a working parent to afford the up-keep of a child you have to work. Now admittedly Madonna could afford to take the time off but Mercy needs to be brought up with a realistic view of what Madonnas’ life is like so cancelling the tour would give Mercy the impression Madonna is a stay at home Mum, so this time next year when Madonna has a project to work on Mercy would be disappointed her mother has to work away.

   Then we come to the human trafficing issue. Madonna has not abused a child nor has she ever encouraged others to do the same. Every adoption has to be treated differently and each case has to have it’s own merits and rewards. Madonna is hard working, wealthy mother of three other children she is not a rich paedophile ring selling the children on. So why make the comparison it’s not a fair one to make. No mtter where Madonna chose to adopt from anyone could have made the same claim. If you give a child to a gay couple people could argue it. If you give a child to a straight couple you could argue it.

   The last statement human right groups keep saying is “you shouldn’t take a child from the slums to a palace.” Now correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the whole point of adoption to take a child who has a poor quality of life and give the child a better quality of life. What would be the point of the child coming from the slums being adopted by another family in the slums. It seems to me like unnecessary criticism from people looking to complain about Madonna.

   I personnally wish Madonna and Mercy all the best. Someone needs to give the women a break she get’s critised for exercise, for wearing a leotard, for working to hard, for sticking to a diet, for pointing out the fact people have sex, for having faith in Kabballah, for dating a younger man and now for being a mother. In my opinion human right groups need to stick to working on human rights rather than using Madonna as a scape goat for all the worlds problems.