MASERU — American pop star Madonna had set her eyes on adopting an orphan from Lesotho if she had lost her battle for a second Malawian child.
The singer, 50, however this week won her appeal in Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal to adopt four-year-old Mercy James.
Her initial bid to give a home to Mercy was rejected in March.
Madonna first adopted David Banda, three, in 2008.
The Material Girl singer also has an eight-year-old son, Rocco, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie and daughter Lourdes, 12, from a previous relationship.
At the weekend media reports said Madonna — who is dating 22-year-old model Jesus Luz — was considering adopting an orphan from Lesotho if her bid to take Mercy had failed.
A source close to the pop star told Britain’s the Daily Mail that she was planning on adopting a baby girl from Africa and that Lesotho could be “the perfect second choice”.
“She has done some research on Lesotho and because it’s a place that is ravaged by Aids and has a high number of orphans, it could be the perfect second choice,” the source was quoted as saying by the Mail.
The Telegraph, also of the UK, said Madonna’s eagerness to adopt from Lesotho, according to sources, was fuelled by Prince Harry’s polo match in New York to raise funds for his charity work in the kingdom.
Prince Harry founded and backs Sentebale, a charity supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho.
Madonna’s reported interest in Lesotho came three months after the mountain kingdom’s government reopened international adoptions.
However, the Child Protection Bill of 2004 — which articulates foster care and adoption policies — is still to be passed into law.
A commission that reviewed international adoptions in Lesotho recommended that a central authority be set up in the Ministry of Health to take charge of adoptions.
Currently, only citizens of Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States can adopt in Lesotho.
