Malawi and Madonna

The newswires have been rife with stories about Madonna's failed adoption of another Malawian adoption of a 4 year old little girl named Mercy. This was to be her second adoption from Malawi, with her first being of her son David. Most of us are quite familiar with the story, but I am curious what your thoughts are about it all.

From what I gather, Madonna has done a lot of humanitarian work in Malawi, has donated millions of dollars for relief efforts and many other worthwhile causes there. But let me ask the questions...does that mean she should be able to skirt the residency requirements that any other adoptive parent would have to meet? Does the good she has done outweigh the need to keep strict requirements in place for all prospective adoptive parents? Were the Malawian officials doing the right thing when they denied her the right to adopt, knowing it could easily mean the end to millions of dollars in much needed aid? Literally...does this decision mean people might die because of the dire need there?

In my opinion, I think the Malawian government got it right.

It's not class envy on my part, it is not some need to gleefully see a mega-celebrity get their comeuppance. There are rules, they should be followed. We all have to follow them. We may not like it, we may at times find it ridiculous, we may complain and rant and rave. But we have to follow them.

I say this as I spent most of the entire day chasing down more dossier documents and signatures, after having just labelled photos of every room in our house including bathrooms and our toilets, after yet again having to ask others in our life to once again complete another document even though they have nothing to gain from it. Am I sick of it all? You bet!! Do I have millions to throw at the issue to try and skirt the requirements? No. If I did would it somehow be justified to allow me not to go through the proper steps? No, it definitely would not.

There has been much talk about corruption in international adoption lately. There are unanswered questions, there are frustrations, there are accusations that fly freely. And when a country decides to make someone adhere to it's rules, there are cries of outrage. After all, don't they understand the kind of life of privilege Madonna can provide a child? Don't the officials understand that the advantages are obvious? Can't they see that they are jeopardizing millions of dollars of aid money?

And I ask...can't anyone see that they did the right thing? That rules are in place to be followed, and it shouldn't matter the status of the person attempting to adopt? That we are seeing government acting fairly here?

I don't know if Madonna is a good mom, I wouldn't begin to judge that. I do know she is divorced, that she has had multiple relationships with men in and out of her children's lives. That is well documented. I know she can financially provide for a thousand children, should she so desire.

I also know that according to Malawian officials, she did not meet the residency requirements they have in place for adoption.

What remains to be seen is what the end result will be, if Madonna's motives were indeed pure when donating millions of dollars to assist the poor in Malawi...or if it was just an attempt to see to it that she was assured the opportunity to adopt again. Only time will reveal the truth behind the actions. If the purse strings are suddenly closed tight, I guess we will all have a better understanding of the level of Madonna's compassion for the Malawian people.

I, for one, hope that we find that the horse led the cart in this case, rather than the opposite. I hope we see that Madonna's love for the country and it's people led her to try and adopt another child, and not that her desire to adopt led her to offer an extreme form of payoff in advance for the "right" to have another child in her arms.

If it is the latter, then it would seem another case of corruption was thwarted.