Madonna Wants to Adopt Another Child from Malawi

Madonna plans to visit Malawi, a poor southeastern country in Africa plagued with AIDS, this weekend to adopt another child; but in order for her endeavors to follow through, she must get by their court.

The 50-year-old pop vocalist wants to be a mother to Mercy James, who is from the Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. According to a spokesperson for the ministry of Gender and Child Development, the mother and father of the toddler are deceased.

"We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week," said the official.

The Associated Press reports that the 4-year-old girl will be an additional sibling to Madonna's other children: 8-year-old son Rocco, 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and adopted 3-year-old son from Malawi, David.

So far, their government does not favor foreign adoptions, especially if the person is unmarried or divorced. Madonna fits both bills.

Malawians were strongly against the idea for Madonna to adopt son David, but the rule was stretched to where she was granted legal guardianship.

"For the most part so-called orphans in poor countries tend to have family still available to them, if not actually a parent still living," Save the Children representative David Nutt said, according to BBC news. "You cannot literally take every poor child who may only have one parent living, across the world and transport them all into Kingston in London. It's not a solution."

Madonna said she will consider the adoption if the government favors her ambition.