Give Madonna the Child!

News story broke today that Madonna was denied her application to adopt a second child from Malawi. The reason stated is that it would set a bad precedent to change the rules for Madonna.

First, I am not a fan of Madonna, so my opinion is not influenced by my feelings for her. But, to me, it is a no-brainer to let her adopt this child!

Lets go over some of the “opposition” to this adoption:

1.If Madonna is allowed this adoption, the courts will waive the 18-month residency requirement for prospective adoptive parents. "We are delighted that the courts have upheld the law of the land - weak as it is," said Mavuto Bamusi, head of Malawi's Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC). "[The courts have] avoided setting an example that would have opened the floodgates for people to come and take children from Malawi. Open the floodgates? One can only wish that would happen. Over 1 million children are currently in orphanages!

2.The rules should not be broken for a celebrity. Can you think of a better reason to break the rules than saving the life of a child?

3. A child of Malawi should not be robbed of his/her “culture” by being raised in America. The life expectancy in Malawi is 40. One in five children die before age five. What good is being “with your native people” if you can only live to age five?

The problem with all these objections is that none of them look at the situation from the point of view of the child. If they did, this child would be with Madonna as we speak. Unfortunately, most court systems (ours too, sad to say) do not make decisions based on the best interest of the child. Parent’s rights and the interests of “the state” come first. I am not quick to anger, but this infuriates me! We have seen the videotape of an adoptive child being torn away from the only parents he has known at age four because a “biological parent” comes out of the woodwork to claim the child and a court grants it. Same problem here; what is best for the child is not first concern. It should be!