Madonna’s lawyer is laying down the law. Alan Chinula is representing Madge for the adoption of Mercy James. The final decision will be rendered by a Malawian judge on Friday, most likely. But to Chinula, there are no worries. He says “I don’t see any law in Malawi that can stop this adoption” and that Mercy’s uncle “has already signed off the consent forms, and Madonna counter-signed them.” So I guess that’s that. Why even show up for the Friday court date?

Madonna’s lawyer Alan Chinula tells Usmagazine.com he is confident that the judge will allow the singer, 50, to adopt 4-year-old girl Chifundo “Mercy” James at Friday’s hearing.

“I am not sleeping sleepless nights over this,” Chinula tells Us. “I don’t see any law in Malawi that can stop this adoption.”

On Tuesday, a rep for Madonna confirmed for the first time that the singer is adopting the girl, whose unwed 18-year-old mother died soon after she gave birth. Chinula tells Us the girl’s uncle, Peter Baneti, “has already signed off the consent forms, and Madonna counter-signed them.”

“She just has to wait to hear from me when I get the result” on Friday, he says. She is not required to attend the hearing, Chinula adds, “although she can attend if she so chooses.”
Several non-governmental organizations have called the Human Rights Consultative Committee, slamming Madonna’s adoption attempt because the groups feel the child should be taken care of by her own family.

The organizations also accuse the singer of using her wealth and celebrity status to bend Malawi’s adoption laws. (The singer, who adopted David Banda in 2006, has not followed regulations that stipulate that prospective parents must undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi before adopting.)

But Chinula tells Us that law is over 50 years old and “archaic.”

“Laws must be dynamic,” he says. “They must move with current trends.”

From US Magazine

There are several daily updates happening on Madonna throughout the week. Some of them are just tabloid “reports” coming from people who have literally nothing to do with Madonna, Mercy or Malawi. But some stories are interesting, like this one from The Telegraph. Apparently Madge had been e-mailing her friends about the adoption. One of these friends, Ben Fellows, released Madge’s e-mail to The Daily Mirror (although this story is via The Telegraph). Madge told Fellows that she was “going to jump through hoops to get [Mercy]”. Madge also wrote “Let the storm commence.” It’s commencing, Gristle. You don’t have to beg for it quite so much.

[In] an email to her friend Ben Fellows, a British film-maker, she said that the criticism over her plans would not stop the adoption, adding: “Let the storm commence”.

Mr Fellows, who was himself adopted, told the Daily Mirror: “Once Madonna has put her mind to something, she achieves it – and this adoption is no different.”

“She told me she thought it was very important that David had a sister, she had unconditional love to give another child and was going to jump through hoops to get her.”

“She knew exactly what she was walking into. She was well aware that people would start sniping about it. She sent me an email just before she left for Malawi and signed it off ‘Let the storm commence!'”

From The Telegraph

Here’s what I don’t get – why does Madonna drown us in sanctimony about all of her latest issues, when her goal was and is solely to get publicity? If she really wants the attention so badly (and I think by now it’s clear that she does), why pull the bait and switch after the fact? Perhaps I’m not explaining my point very well, so let me take a step back.

Part of the problem I had with Madonna after David Banda’s adoption was that she went on Oprah and defended herself and her actions in a very sanctimonious, holier-than-thou way. She basically said that all she cared about was adopting a needy child, and that nothing else mattered to her. But clearly, all of the publicity and media exposure means a lot to her too, or else she would try to act in a quieter (legal) way that would benefit her children, or the children she’s trying to adopt.

It just feels like she saw all of the attention (so much of it negative) that she got with David Banda’s adoption, and is really trying to willfully mimic so many of the same mistakes with Mercy’s adoption. Her attitude is cavalier, craven and desperate.

Madonna is shown in Malawi on 3/29/09 and 3/30/09. Credit: WENN.com