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Friday, June 12, 2009
Madonna cleared to adopt baby Mercy
Malawi’s highest court ruled Friday that the pop star can adopt a second child from the African nation, citing her love, determination, and “income tax returns.”
In granting Madonna custody of 3-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James, the court extended the definition of residency and brushed aside concerns by human rights groups that the nation is bending laws meant to protect children in a country where half a million have lost a parent to AIDS.
“I am ecstatic,” Madonna said in a statement in which she also thanked the court. “My family and I look forward to sharing our lives with her.”
Madonna’s lawyer Alan Chinula said the adoption was final with Friday’s ruling, although this could not immediately be confirmed. He said he would now arrange a passport for Mercy, which could take several days, and was awaiting word from Madonna on travel plans for the little girl, whose mother died soon after giving birth.
James Kambewa, a man who claims to be Mercy’s father — but acknowledges he’s never seen her — told CBS News: “I’m crying. I need my baby. I don’t know where I can find any help,” the network said.
But Peter Baneti, an uncle, said the family welcomed Friday’s ruling.
“We hope Mercy will be joining Madonna soon,” he said by phone from his village just outside Blantyre.
Madonna, 50, adopted a son, David, from Malawi last year. Her request to adopt Mercy was rejected in April by a lower court that said the star had not spent enough time in Malawi.
Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo, reading the three-judge appeal court panel’s ruling on Friday, said that was a narrow interpretation based on old laws and that “in this global village a man can have more than one place at which he resides.”
He said the singer’s commitment to helping disadvantaged children also should have been taken into account in the decision.
Madonna founded a charity, Raising Malawi, here in 2006. It helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi’s orphans.
The judge said Madonna had shown herself to be “intelligent, compassionate, articulate and determined since the early age of 6 when her mother died,” saying the young Madonna had helped raise her siblings.
And he said “her latest income tax returns shows that she is financially stable; she can therefore look after the needs of” the little girl.
Children’s welfare groups had expressed concern that rules meant to protect children were being bent because of Madonna’s celebrity, and perhaps out of gratitude for what she has done for Malawi.
When Madonna adopted David, the process took months and included a child welfare official’s visit to Madonna’s home, which then was in London, to review her fitness as a mother. Chinula said none of this would be necessary this time.
“What the Supreme Court has done is grant a full adoption,” he said.
“The matter of residence should be determined at the time of application of the adoption,” Chief Justice Munlo read. “In this case, Madonna was in Malawi not by chance but by intention. She is looking after several orphans whose welfare depends on her. She can therefore not be described as a sojourner.”
The ruling also said the judges saw only two options for Mercy: “either to stay at the orphanage without the love of family and live with the possibility of destitution, or be with Madonna where she is assured of love. Every child has the right to love,” it said.
Madonna met the girl in 2006 at Kondanani Children’s Village, an orphanage in Bvumbwe, just south of Blantyre. It was the same year she began the process of adopting David, whom she found at another orphanage in central Malawi.
The girl’s 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth. Since Madonna moved to adopt the girl, a dispute has arisen between the girl’s maternal relatives, who agreed to the adoption, and Kambewa, who says he is the father and wants to care for the girl himself.
The girl’s maternal relatives have said they do not believe Kambewa is the father, and his objections were not addressed in Friday’s ruling.
The chairman of the coalition of non-governmental organizations that had opposed Madonna’s adoption efforts said Friday’s ruling “disregarded” international agreements on children’s rights and adoptions.
Undule Mwakasungula also took issue with the argument that because Madonna has made an investment in the country and has interests there, she could be considered a resident.
“We are a bit surprised but we can’t challenge it because the Supreme Court has ruled and we have to go with that,” he said.
Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while filming a documentary on its devastating poverty and AIDS crisis, and later decided to adopt there. In addition to David, she has two other children: Lourdes, 12, and Rocco, 8.
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Usher’s marriage is over, say “insiders”
Usher may have raced to his wife Tameka’s side when she apparently suffered cardiac arrest in February in Brazil, but according to sources, that was a brief reunion in an otherwise troubled marriage.
In fact, Usher is expected to file for divorce early next week, according to an insider.
But a source who knows Tameka Foster Raymond says the stylist is still referring to Usher as “my husband” and isn’t about to call it quits. “She’s been in his life for so long. She’s very loyal to him,” says the source who knows her. “Tameka is the type of woman to stick it out.”
The R&B star, 30, and his wife of nearly two years, 38, have been leading separate lives for months, say sources. “A lot of that is because Usher has been in Vegas recording his new record,” explains one source. “He’s done his best to keep Tameka away.”
Even while he’s home in Atlanta, a source who knows the couple — who have two sons, Usher Raymond V, 18 months, and Naviyd, 6 months — says the pair often fought.
“Usher has not been staying at home with her much lately,” says the source. “I rarely saw Usher around even before there were any children born.”
The marriage was filled with drama from the start. The couple canceled their July 2007 wedding on the morning of the big day. At the time, sources blamed their differing ideas for the event, as well as family matters: Usher’s mother, Jonetta Patton, did not approve of Foster Raymond (who was pregnant at the time), said a source.
A week later, they tied the knot in the Atlanta office of Usher’s lawyer, then exchanged vows again during a lavish celebration on September 1. Patton reportedly was not among the 200 guests.
This past February, just two months after Naviyd’s birth, Foster Raymond nearly died while undergoing liposuction.
Despite the couple’s brief reunion, Usher apparently has been acting like a bachelor lately. He has been linked to Island Def Jam staffer Grace Miguel, who works with his protégé Justin Bieber, and recently partied with a group of women during a trip to Miami.
“It was a boy’s night out but there were girls,” says a local source. “He was in such a good mood!”
Meanwhile, Tameka is focusing on keeping her family happy. “She clearly loves her kids,” says the source who knows her. “She’s going to stay positive.”
Usher’s reps had no comment.
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Chaz Bono’s sex change allows legal marriage
Chaz Bono can do something as a man which she could never do as a woman in California — marry her partner.
At a point during the gender change, the subject can go to court and ask a judge to legally change his/her sex. It’s discretionary on the part of the judge in determining when the person switches sex and is entitled to a legal change, but for a female-to-male reassignment, typically it’s when the breasts are removed.
Judges usually do not require a genitalia switch as a prerequisite to a legal sex change.
Chaz has been in a committed relationship for several years. Therefore, what Chaz could never do now — marry his partner — he can do when the law acknowledges he is indeed a he.
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