Pop star extraordinaire Madonna lost a bid Friday to adopt a second child from Malawi, rejected by a judge who said she would not bend the country's strict residency rules even for a wealthy celebrity.
Noting that Madonna had last visited Malawi in 2008, the judge said the pop star "jetted into the country during the weekend just days prior to the hearing of this application."
"In my opinion, this would completely remove (Madonna) from the definition of `resident,'" the judge said.
Judge Esmie Chombo said in the original hearing that granting an interim adoption and allowing Madonna to take Mercy from the country would set a dangerous precedent. "Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences for the very children that the law seeks to protect," she said.
Malawi requires prospective parents to live in the country for 18 to 24 months while child welfare authorities assess their suitability — a rule that was bent when Madonna was allowed to take her now 3-year-old son David to London in 2006 before his adoption was finalized two years later. Madonna has two other children, Lourdes, 12, and Rocco, 8.
"It is necessary that we look beyond the petitioner ... and consider the consequences of opening the doors too wide," Chombo said. "By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts ... could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals."
The judge also made clear she was not questioning Madonna's intentions, and even praised the "noble" work the singer's charity has done to feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost parents to AIDS.
It is "my prayer" that Mercy would benefit from such programs, Chombo said.
She noted the girl was receiving "suitable" care in an orphanage and contrasted that with David's situation in 2006, when the boy was about to be returned to his father, who had been struggling to care for him.
Madonna was not present in the courtroom for the ruling, and there was no immediate comment from her spokeswoman in New York. The pop star's lawyer filed notice he would appeal, but no hearing date was set.
Meanwhile, actress Angelina Jolie said Madonna should never have visited an impoverished African country with the sole intention of choosing an infant.
Her comments follow accusations that Madonna used her fame and money to speed the adoption of one-year- old David Banda late last year.
"Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born," said Miss Jolie, who has adopted two Third World youngsters of her own. "It's a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption."
"Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal." Miss Jolie, 31, also made clear she was shocked by Madonna's decision to take David from the country where his father still lives.
Despite her own harsh words, Miss Jolie said she still felt sorry for Madonna, 48, who has been harshly criticised since taking David back to London to live with her husband Guy Ritchie and her own children, Lourdes and Rocco. Asked if the saga would put her off adopting more children of her own, Miss Jolie said: "I have been horrified by the attacks she's been subjected to. All that should count is the happiness of her little David."
In the interview with French magazine Gala, Miss Jolie ruled out marriage to her partner Brad Pitt, the father of her sixmonthold daughter Shiloh. But she said she wanted him to become legal father to their adopted children Maddox, five, and Zahara, almost two.
Asked about Pitt, whom she met on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith while he was still with exwife Jennifer Aniston, she said: "Don't go repeating it whatever you do but, yes I love him. I love him a lot. After I met him my life seemed more harmonious. At 20 I was nervous about the most trifling things. As the mother of a big family I'm not able to have these worries, I have too many responsibilities. Today the good health of my children is all that's important."
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