In an upcoming interview with CBS’s The Early Show, 15 year old James Kambewa- the biological father of Mercy, the Malawian girl whom Madonna hopes to adopt- once again expresses his opposition to the adoption

“I want to take care of her and I’m capable to take care of my baby,” he says. “Mercy, she is a Malawian—so [I] need her to grow as a Malawian, as well with our culture.”

In the interview, Kambewa is wearing a necklace he made bearing his daughter’s name but says has never held or even met her in person. The little girl’s birth mother died shortly after childbirth.

Lucy Chekechiwa, Mercy’s maternal grandmother, says she, too, was initially opposed to the adoption but eventually gave in.
“I did not want my granddaughter to be adopted,” she says, “but because they have been persistent enough, I have been forced to let my granddaughter go.”

This reeks of opportunism. If his daughter was so important to him, why hasn’t he been a part of her life for the 3 years before now? I’m not claiming to be an expert on Malawian orphanages, but I’m betting that if the father of the chid at least wanted to hold his daughter, at some point in the past three years he could have accomplished that.

No, the site isn’t showing old posts from years ago; it’s happened again. Madonna was hospitalized this Saturday after she fell off a horse that was startled by a paparazzo.

“The accident occurred when the horse Madonna was riding was startled by paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes to photograph the singer,” spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg tells E! News. Us Weekly first reported the spill.

The 50-year-old pop icon was released after being treated for “minor injuries and bruises” at a Southampton hospital, says Rosenberg.

A lot of people are suggesting that maybe it’s time Madge hung up her riding boots– and her insurance company probably agrees. In 2005 she broke her collarbone, split three ribs, and fractured her hand when she fell off a horse on her 47th birthday.

But for someone as tenacious as her, I can’t see her giving up that easily. You know the old saying: When you fall off a horse, hire a team of lawyers to appeal the decision in court and get the family of the horse to release media statements saying the horse keeps asking for you and wants to be your daughter.

Sheesh, trying to make sense of what’s going on with Madonna’s Malawi adoption requires quite a bit of effort. Last week, Malawi officials ruled that Madonna could not adopt the little 4-year-old orphan, Mercy James, that she’d hoped to take home with her, citing child trafficking concerns. “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children,” said the judge, “the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the weakness of the law of the land.”

So I don’t know shit about what’s going on with Malawi child trafficking, but I have to assume that the judge was trying to act in the greater good. I just don’t understand why else you’d refuse to let an orphan be adopted by a family who wanted to love and care for her, and is obviously equipped to do so. It breaks my heart, for the girl and for Madge and her family.

Even Mercy’s extended family wants her to live with Madonna. Her uncle told a British newspaper: “We as a family discussed this and agreed that it is in the best interests of Mercy to have her adopted, so why should the judge stop this if the family is OK with it?”

Now Madonna is back in London to celebrate Passover with her friends and family. Estranged hubby Guy Ritchie met her at the airport, although the two didn’t speak. Guy was mostly there to see his son with Madonna, David.

As Madonna disembarked her private jet, she was met by her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, who had published a statement following the ruling describing her as an “excellent mother”. The popstar looked tired and deflated as she descended the steps from the aircraft, hiding her face with her hair.

Ritchie approached the Gulfsteam jet with a smile on his face before the couple’s four-year-old son David Banda, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006, leapt into his arms. Madonna is said to be deeply upset after being forced to leave Malawi without Mercy, who she met last week.

She has appealed the decision and hearings are expected to begin on the matter next week.

Madonna is planning to stay in London with her daughter Lourdes, 12, to celebrate Passover with her friends from the Kabbalah Centre.

Awww, poor Madonna! This must be so heartbreaking. I hope she gets that damn kid.

This is shaping up to be a lovely Friday!  Kelly should feel so grateful for the rash of “Madonna Goes Crazy, Eats Cheese,” stories that will surely be out to press this weekend.  Okay, I don’t know if this newest blow is of the “consume dairy” category, but it is pretty serious.  Madonna’s secret pain?  She didn’t get her way.

As you know, Madge has been in Malawi for the adoption hearing of a little girl, Chifundo “Mercy” James.  Wednesday, Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula stated that there was no law in Malawi that “can stop this adoption.”  Is there such a thing as a law school refresher course?  If so, Chinula needs to look into one of those because Madonna’s request for adoption has been denied.  There has been no official reason given, but it could be related to her address.

Earlier, a judge who did not make the ruling but saw it and another lawyer present when the ruling was made said Madonna was rejected because of residency rules. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Malawi adoption regulations require that prospective parents live in the southern African nation for at least 18 months.

The residency rule was waived in 2006, when Madonna was allowed to take her adopted son, David, to London before his adoption was finalized in 2008. It was not clear why Judge Esme Chombo ruled differently Friday. Another judge had handled Madonna’s previous adoption case.

It also came to light that Mercy’s grandmother wished to adopt the child and keep her close to family in Malawi.  Madonna responded by indicating that Mercy would be traumatized by a life without a uni-brow, Kaballah water and a team of nannies.

In court papers made public Friday, Madonna said Chifundo’s grandmother was unable to care for her. She promised to make Mercy a permanent part of her family and spare her the “hardship and emotional trauma” of life as an orphan.

The girl’s mother, according to the affidavit, died at age 14 just days after her baby was born Jan. 22, 2006. There was no mention of the father in the affidavit. The mother’s brother is listed as having consented to the adoption.

“I am able and willing to securely provide for Chifundo James and make her a permanent and established member of my family,” Madonna said. “To deny Chifundo James the opportunity to be adopted by me could expose her to hardship and emotional trauma which is otherwise avoidable.”

I don’t know what is better for the child.  Part of me wonders why Madonna can’t adopt another one of the two million orphans in Malawi that doesn’t have a biological family fighting for them.  Of course, also to be considered is all the opportunity that a life with Madonna can offer.  Not to mention all the playdates that can be arranged between Mercy and Madonna’s boyfriend du jour.

Madonna and her family paid a visit to the Namitete Secondary School in Malawi on Monday to lend support to her Raising Malawi Foundation. She’s reportedly in Africa to finalize the adoption of yet another kiddo, this time a four-year-old girl.

This is all very interesting stuff, and I’m glad Madge is out there being useful and helping people, but I’ll tell you what really makes my heart soar: It appears as though Lourdes has waxed her eyebrows. I can’t be sure — it’s a strange view and I can’t find a better pic that I have rights to — but it looks as though she was finally brave enough to go into battle with The Unibrow. NOTHING could make me happier. I now feel way more confident about Madonna’s next adoption. I am less scared for this child, because she will not be thrown into a world with a new language, new food, new culture and LOURDES’ GIGANTIC UNIBROW.

PRAISE THE LOURDES!

OMG, Madonna.

I know you just went through a divorce. Divorce is really hard. And it is reasonable to rebound with a younger man. It is reasonable to rebound with a younger woman. It is not reasonable to rebound with a toddler.

As Wendie reported earlier, it appears Madonna is moving forward with another Malawi adoption, this time a four-year-old girl named Mercy.

A Malawi court has scheduled a hearing for Monday to take up the Material Mama’s petition to add an orphaned girl to the brood.

The hearing was announced a day after officials in the African nation confirmed the 50-year-old entertainer was seeking a second adoption.

Also on Friday, the identity of the 4-year-old girl was confirmed.

“Her name is Mercy James from Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. She has no father and mother—they both died. We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters. …

The “Causing a Commotion” singer is expected to arrive in Malawi with David sometime over the weekend and will reportedly take the boy to meet his biological father, Yohane Banda, while they’re visiting.

So, I mean, whatever, there are worse things in the world than adopting an orphan from Africa when you obviously have the financial means to care for her. But is anyone else a little worried that Madonna is getting a new child to fill the hole in her heart left when her marriage failed? Oh well. I suppose this little girl is going to have a much better life now regardless of Madonna’s motives, and so we’ll look at it as a blessing and move on. Good luck with this, Madge.

No, that’s not Madonna’s newest conquest she’s cuddled up with.  That’s her adopted son, Malawi native, David Banda.  Now, Madonna is looking to add to her brood.

A representative at the Ministry of Gender and Child Development in Malawi confirms that Madge is heading back to the African country to adopt another child.  Her adoption papers have already been filed and could be ruled on in the courts next week.

Madonna is getting so Mia Farrow-ish in her old age.  It’s really nice to see!