MadonnaMadonna’s petition to adopt a second child from Malawi was rejected by a judge on Friday, April 3rd.

According to chartattack.com, Madonna flew to the southeast African country to try and adopt three-year-old Chifundo James, whose first name translates as “Mercy” in English. But Judge Esme Chombo, a judge in Malawi’s capital of Lilongwe, said prospective parents must live in Malawi for 18 to 24 months before they can adopt a Malawian child. 

“The decision came down to residency requirement and the fact that the judge believes she was being well taken care of in the orphanage,” Zione Ntaba, a spokeswoman for the Malawi Justice Department, told CNN. 

“For the Malawians, the fact that the child is at an orphanage, is being taken care of and is going through the school education system, that does qualify as the best interests of a child.”

Madonna had filed a petition that said James’ mother died soon after she was born and her grandmother was unable to take care of her. 

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

Ex-husband Guy Ritchie has spoken out regarding the rejection, insisting that Madonna is a good mother and that he was saddened upon hearing about the application denial for the Material Mother.  






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