Car ,you bring up a good point. It sounds like to me that they should be more upset with the Malwai than Madonna.I hope that couple got the child they wanted to adopt but it seems to me that Madonna isn’t having an easy time with it either.Hopefully,all of this may open Malwai’s eyes to allowing international adoption. Plenty of people would be happy and willing to give these children homes and families.

Because of the ‘no adoptions’ law in Malawi and the huge amounts of money Madonna was investing in orphanages there, it gave the impression (rightly or wrongly) her little boy was ‘bought’. I think that is what the outcry was about. The two things hand-in-hand appeared very unsavoury.

However,anyone who has been involved in International adoptions knows very well the huge amounts of money that goes into the pockets of the facilators/lawyers/agencies etc.

I remember media reports ran a story that at the same time as Madonna’s adoption, there was a missionary family living in Malawi trying to adopt an orphan child they had been caring for since birth, they had been trying for more than three or four years and had gotten nowhere. They felt that Madonna did get very special treatment. Hopefully they have since been able to adopt their child, I would love to read a follow up to their story.

Jeanette and Renee- I couldn’t have said it better myself! Also, to the people comparing Madonna to Angelina, I do want to point out that at least two of Angelina’s adoptions have come under scrunity as well. When she first adopted Zahara, some tabloid reported that Z’s biological mother was actually still alive, and therefore Angie had adopted her illegaly (if either of the birth parents is alive, they must give consent for their child to be adopted, and they must relinquish their parental rights).

Then, just a few months ago, InTouch (along with, I think, a few other tabloids) reported that Z’s biological mom was still alive…and that she and Z’s biological grandmother wanted her back! As it turned out, the whole thing was false (it was eventually confirmed that Z’s bio mom is indeed dead, and Angie’s adoption of her was legal and binding.).

When Angie adopted Pax, rumors began flying that she was getting special treatment, mainly that she had gotten them to speed up the process (in reality, the entire process took almost a year. A rep for Brad and Angie confirmed that they began the adoption paper work shortly after Shiloh’s birth in 2006, and Pax, as we all know, was adopted in April 2007). There were also numerous complaints that she shouldn’t have adopted another child so soon after Shiloh’s birth.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that Angie has also been accused of not having text-book perfect adoptions.

Astrid, you sound you didn’t read the previous comments.I think even normal people would be surprised at how much detail and work actually goes into adoption. She probably knew it would take a lot of work and I think it’s unfair that people are attacking her. Visiting this site, I learned just how difficult the adoption process is. The media makes it sound like it’s way more simple than it is even and I don’t know too many people who have or can afford to adopt. I hear people talking about that they didn’t even know adoption was so expensive in my classes when adoption is discussed. Also, did it occur to you that maybe Madonna was letting other people know that the adoption process isn’t a piece of cake?

So Madonna can hardly believe that she’s been asked “invasive questions”, been fingerprinted and had psych evaluations? She’s adopting a human being, not a puppy. She sounds to me like she’s surprised she had to go through such a routine, like the ‘normal’ people have to do.

good for madge, defending herself, and her beautiful, selfless choice to adopt a lovely, needy young man into her life and family. it warms my heart, and i can’t imagine that any celebrity (or family, period) would take “fads” or trends into consideration, when making the decision to add to their family via adoption.
if i could afford to adopt or foster children, now, or in the future, i would hepl as many as i could. i have so much love to give, but i think it would be best for me to stick with my two babies, for personal reasons. still, i fantasize~ someday, for adoption, and especially surrogacy.
what an amazingly wondeful gift to david, and to the world~ making it a better place for one more precious baby boy. i hope all of the loose ends tie themselves up, and that david is soon named an offial, permanent part of the ciccone/richie clan.

For all you people who give kudos to Madonna for basically making her own rules and doing what she wanted– YOU need to understand one thing..ADOPTION IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. Its not your RIGHT to walk into another country and demand to take one of their children.

If the average person like you or me went to Malawi on a mission trip and fell in love with a child we would NOT have been allowed to adopt that child. Madonna used her celebrity and wealth to adopt a child from a place that had NO adoption laws in place and now she’s going to whine that it was sooo hard?! GIVE ME A BREAK!

No matter how prepared you are for the adoption there is always a curve ball thrown at you. We adopted a foster child from right here in the US and the whole process took three years with, just like Madonna stated finger printing, tests, training (never mind that we already were parents) etc. And what I hated the most but took it in stride were those monthly invasive visits. It was a very exhausting and traumatic journey and there were many times when my husband and I who never had fights before were even considering seperating. (It’s not uncommon for adoptive parents to seperate afer the adoption and I know why).
I’m not a fan of Madonna but I respect what she is going through.

I have to agree…Madonna has caught so much unfair “flak” for adopting David. I think her heart was and always has been in the right place. She fell in love with David and wanted to adopt him despite the fact that he was born in a country with no adoption laws to speak of.

Angelina has said she felt a connection with her children. She wanted to take them all, but the actual children she adopted – she felt something very special – they were meant to be hers.

Sure, Madonna could have adopted from Ethiopia or somewhere with “proper” adoption laws, but there was something about David. Should she of turned her back on him because he was born in Malawi? I’m glad she has done this, even if people criticize her, she followed her heart. She has done a wonderful thing and hopefully, along the way, she may have set in motion the opportunity for other Malawian orphans to find families of their own.