Hollywood Everafter

Leave it to the material girl to show folks how to adopt a child from a poor Third World country.

Four-year-old Mercy James, whose Malawian name is Chifundo, is all hers now thanks to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Malawi.

The higher court overturned the lower court ruling that had been a stumbling block in the whole adoption process.

The reason the singer’s attempt to adopt Mercy was stopped, according to the lower court judge, was that Madonna had not complied with rules that mandated that she live in Malawi for 18 months before adopting the child.

In rendering the opinion that let her off the residency hook, Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo said, “Madonna has been judged to be a compassionate, intelligent and articulate person. Her adoption of Mercy James is not a selfish act.”

It could be that the chief justice was alluding to something reported in the U.K. Daily Mirror; that Madonna paid out $7.3 million to fund orphanages and buy shoes, clothes, books and more for the impoverished children.

It’s not the first time Madonna was able to skirt Malawi law. She did it when she adopted little David, too. The interesting thing, though, is that David and Mercy weren’t exactly orphans. They both had family.

At the time of his son’s adoption, David’s dad Yohane expressed regrets and claimed he wasn’t fully informed about the arrangements. Kambewa, the alleged daddy of Mercy has gone on record as being opposed to her adoption as well.

Esme Chombo, the provincial judge of the lower court who had ruled against Madonna, quoted G. K. Chesterton to support the idea of sticking with the rule of law, even in a Third World country.

“Don’t take a fence down until you know why it was put up in the first place,” the jurist said.

Meanwhile Madonna has been seen dating a guy in his twenties. No word yet on whether she plans on adopting him.