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Happy (Belated) Birthday, Madonna! The Material Girl turned 51 on Aug. 16, celebrating in style in Portofino, Italy, with kids Lourdes Leon, David Banda and Mercy James. Boytoy Jesus Luz also joined the festivities as the family spent time relaxing and waving to fans.
After a boat ride, Madge and the kids went for a dip, jumping off a yacht to enjoy a swim.
While Madonna works, her kids play!
The Material Girl is currently touring Europe with her Sticky & Sweet show, but she’s making sure her four children, Lourdes, Rocco, David Banda and the newly adopted Mercy James, aren’t just holed up in hotel rooms.
On Friday, Madge’s brood spent the day at The Tuilleries Gardens in Paris, where they went on rides, played games, posed for photos with each other.
50 PHOTOS OF THEIR FUN-DAY FRIDAY IN THE GALLERY!
Madonna’s new daughter was flown out of Malawi to London over the weekend. Three-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James, left late on Friday, stopping in neighbouring South Africa, before reaching the UK.
The girl, who is the second child Madonna has adopted from Malawi, was reportedly accompanied on the plane by a nanny, a child nurse and a third aide.
Madonna, her daughter Lourdes, 12, and sons Rocco, eight, and three-year-old David Banda, flew into London from New York earlier that day.
But Mercy might not get to see much of her new mum over the next few weeks, as the singer embarks on a seven-week European tour on July 4.
A therapist has been enlisted to help Mercy adjust to her new life.
A source revealed: "Madonna realizes this is too much change and adjustment for such a young child."
"The Kabbalah leaders in New York have helped her choose a leading child therapist to work with Mercy and facilitate her transition into life Madonna-style."
Mercy’s 18-year-old mother, Mwandidar, died when the girl was only one year old.
It’s a happy day for Madonna, who was finally granted her wish by the Supreme Court of Malawi on Friday morning, allowing the pop superstar to move forward with her adoption of a 4-year-old girl Chifundo Mercy James from the African nation.
In his ruling, which overturns a lower court decision blocking Madge from adopting her second Malawian child, Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo writes, "We find the judge in the lower court to have dwelled so much on media reports on the issue of residence and to us this was not evidence enough to deny Madonna a chance to adopt Mercy James. We therefore grant Madonna the adoption order… Madonna has shown that she is bold, and compassionate enough to come forward to adopt Chifundo James."
Predictably, the pop star is pleased. "I’ve just talked to Madonna and she’s very excited about this news," her lawyer Alan Chinula told Reuters.
In 2006, Madonna adopted then 1-year-old boy David Banda from Malawi and was accused of using her fame to get around residency rules governing adoption.
The latest wrench in Madonna’s plan to adopt a second child from the African nation of Malawi isn’t the bureaucratic red tape, but a man believed to be the father of the little girl she wishes to bring into her family.
"I want to take care of her," says James Kambewa in an interview on CBS’ Early Show. "I’m capable to take care of my baby."
According to James, the issue isn’t just a matter of paternity for 4-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. "Mercy, she is a Malawian," he explains. "[I] need her to grow as a Malawian, as well with our culture."
As he speaks to the camera outside the court house, James wears a heart-shaped necklace he made with Mercy’s name, and says he’s never met his daughter, and that he’s only seen her “in newspapers and TV, not face-to-face." He adds that he misses Mercy’s mother, his girlfriend when Mercy was born, "a lot."
James says he was too poor to marry Mercy’s mother, and he had to move hundreds of miles away six months after she became pregnant.
Speaking through a translator, he told the show, "The letter said my girlfriend and my daughter have passed away during childbirth. This was the toughest point in my life."
But Mercy lived, and was taken care of by her grandmother until being given over to the orphanage. James claims he found out just a month ago that she was alive, when reporters covering Madonna’s adoption case found him.
James isn’t the only member of Mercy’s family speaking out. Lucy Chekechiwa, Mercy’s maternal grandmother, says she feels bullied into the adoption. “I did not want my granddaughter to be adopted,” she tells The Early Show. “But because they have been persistent enough, I have been forced to let my granddaughter go."
Madonna spokesperson Liz Rosenberg gave The Early Show a statement saying, "There is no evidence whatsoever that this man is the father of Mercy who has been in an orphanage since birth. … This is a story created by the media that has no influence on the ultimate ruling regarding Madonna’s appeal for custody. No family member has ever come forward to claim this child. And now some man appears out of a clear blue sky claiming to be the father."
The first part of the three-part interview aired this morning. Lovemore Munlo, the Malawian Chief Justice was scheduled to hear Madonna’s case, but it has been moved until 1 p.m. local time because John Gulumba, a lawyer appointed by Eye of the Child – the organization that is against the adoption – filed his court papers late.
It’s only a matter of weeks before Madonna will begin the process of appealing the court verdict that denied her adoption of Malawian child, Mercy James.
The Associated Press reports that the pop star’s appeal will be heard by three judges on the Supreme Court of Appeal on May 4, but Madonna does not have to present at the time.
"As with all court cases involving infants, this one will be in chambers, not in an open court, Joseph Chigona, Registrar of the High Court tells the AP.
Madonna was in the country earlier this month in her attempt to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James, 3. Her son David Banda was also adopted from Malawi in a highly controversial episode in 2006. Normal procedure in the country is for adoptive parents to live in the country for 18 to 24 months until their suitability is assessed. Madonna’s adoption of David did not conform to those guidelines.
"We believe the lower court judge erred by basing her judgment on an archaic law of over 50 years ago," says Madge’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, of her chances of bringing Mercy home.
Madonna said recently of her wishes to be a mother to Mercy, "I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible. And it’s my hope that she, like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
MADONNA AND FAMILY IN MALAWI:
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Though she was recently rejected by a Malawian high court in her bid to adopt a second child — a girl named Mercy James — from the African nation, Madonna has resorted to pleading her case in the press.
"I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and healthcare possible," she’s quoted as saying in the Nation on Sunday newspaper. The Material Girl also says that it’s her hope that both Mercy and her other adopted child David "will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
Madge even admits that she probably should be keeping her mouth shut, but feels compelled to speak out on the subject. "Though I have been advised that I cannot publicly discuss the pending appeal regarding my desire to adopt Mercy, I do want to say how much I appreciate the level of support that I have received from the people of Malawi and my friends around the world."
Madonna is currently awaiting a decision on her appeal to the Malawian Supreme Court on her bid to adopt Mercy.
PHOTOS OF MADONNA & FAMILY IN MALAWI:
Only hours after she had been denied the chance to adopt by a Malawian High Court, lawyers for Madonna have filed an appeal with the African nation’s Supreme Court.
"I just filed the notice of appeal this afternoon on instructions from my client," the singer’s legal eagle, Alan Chinula, told Reuters on Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the High Court of Malawi denied the singer’s request to adopt a young orphaned girl.
"Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," Judge Esimie Chombo stated in her ruling.
Though Madge’s bid to adopt 4-year-old Mercy James has been a divisive issue in Malawi, the court’s decision comes as a bit of a suprise. Only yesterday, Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati had come out in support of Madonna, saying that the Material Girl’s support for Malawian orphans had proven her worth as an adoptive mother.
However, it ultimately came down to the fact that Madonna did not fulfill the residency requirements for adopting a child in Malawi. The singer has no permanent home in the African nation, where a residency period of at least 18 months is usually required before being allowed to adopt.
Of course, the pop star was able to overcome this requirement when she adopted her first child from Malawi. In 2006, Madonna began the controversial process of becoming mom to infant boy David Banda. That adoption was not completed until 2008.
PHOTOS OF MADONNA & FAMILY IN MALAWI:
