Madonna ecstatic at adoption ruling

MADONNA has praised Malawi's high court for allowing her to adopt toddler Mercy James.

The Material Girl was given the go-ahead by judges on Friday to legally adopt the four year old after the first rejection was overturned.

Madonna, 50, issued a statement that said she was "extremely grateful" to the Malawian courts and is looking forward to bringing Mercy home to New York.

She said: "I am ecstatic. My family and I look forward to sharing our lives with her."

Madonna's lawyer Alan Chinula broke the happy news to the singer in a late night phone call.

He said: "I was just through to New York and it is the early hours but Madonna has been awake waiting for news. She was ecstatic. I'm now waiting for instructions to start preparing for Mercy's travel arrangements."

Madonna first attempted to adopt Mercy in April but her bid was rejected on the grounds that prospective parents have to be resident in the country for 18 to 24 months.

But Malawi's state's chief justice, Lovemore Munlo, praised the singer for her dedication to helping orphans in the country, insisting little Mercy, whose mother died when she was a baby, will have a much better life as Madonna's daughter,

He says, "In our view, (Mercy) is better taken care of by being adopted by foreign parents who will give her love and affection. In this global village, a man can have more than one place at which he resides. The matter of residence should be determined at the time of application of the adoption. In this case, Madonna was in Malawi not by chance but by intention."

The adoption news has also been welcomed by Mercy's surviving family members, with her uncle, Peter Baneti, revealing: "We hope Mercy will be joining Madonna soon."

Madonna adopted Malawian-born David Banda in 2006, amid criticisms she side-stepped the country's adoption laws. She also has two biological children - Lourdes, 12, and Rocco, eight.