Strollerderby : adopt

Possible Father of Malawian Orphan Opposes Madonna Adoption

Brett Singer — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT

James Kambewa might be the father of Chifundo "Mercy" James, the girl that Madonna wants to adopt. And he's decided that he can take care of her. He feels that his little girl should be "raised as a Malawian", according to BBC News. So Madonna should step off.

I say "might" because it's not clear that the man is, in fact, Mercy's dad. In an interview with 'The Early Show' on CBS, he said that "he wore a necklace bearing his daughter's name around his neck, even though he had never seen her in person." He said that he wants "to take care of her, and I'm capable to take care of my baby." A big question, of course, is why Mercy was in an orphanage if she had a parent "capable" of raising her.

The whole thing is getting somewhat silly. Personally, I think Madonna should be able to adopt Mercy James, because that would mean a much better life for the girl. A court ruled that the adoption wasn't legal (Madonna's appeal will be heard on Monday), but if that's true, how was she able to adopt David Banda?

I'm not going to get into a debate about Malawian legal matters. I just think that it would be too bad if this little girl is forced to live in an orphanage when she could have moved into the lap of luxury. Especially if the only reason her dad came forward is because there were TV cameras around.

Source: BBC

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Does New York City’s Foster System Inadequately Protect Children?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A tragic case of child abuse has gotten the City of New York in hot water over its allegedly inadequate protections for foster children.

The suit centers around Judith Leekin, a 64-year-old who is now thankfully behind bars for exploiting the city’s foster system to get rich. After learning how much the city would pay her to adopt children with physical and mental disabilities, Leekin adopted 11 children under four different aliases, and then moved to Florida with them.

The approximately $800 to $1,300 per month per child that the city paid Leekin is hardly a windfall for any responsible parent caring for a child who is need of special education. But Leekin spent hardly a dime on the children, keeping them locked—and, in some cases, tied up—in her home, with no access to education, adequate food, or health care. By the time her evil scheme was discovered in 2007, Leekin had collected $1.68 million in government money.

Her former foster children (one of whom is pictured), are now in their teens and twenties and are in foster care and group homes in Florida.

The federal lawsuit contends that the city failed to adequately background check Leekin or to monitor the children under her care. But the Administration for Children’s Services argues that Leekin was masterful at defrauding numerous agencies and professionals, and points out that the city did everything in its power to prosecute Leekin and offer the foster children care and resources after the abuse came to light.

While there must be government accountability for this unthinkably terrible crime, I don’t think that a lawsuit is the answer. Taking money away from New York’s child welfare system, which is already facing severe budget cuts, is hardly the way to improve it. The best way to serve New York’s foster children would be public disclosure of how Leekin managed to get away with such severe child abuse, and a full accounting of the concrete measures the city has taken to prevent such a situation from ever happening again.

Photo: New York Times

Does Madonna Spank Her Kids?

Brett Singer — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Somewhat buried in the news about Madonna's adopted son David Banda meeting up with his biological father in Malawi was this little tidbit (this is David's dad Yohane talking about his chat with David):

He told me his mum likes riding horses and that he too rides horses. Then he told me a story when one day he and his brother, Rocco, rode horses and fell. He told me his mum spanked him because they are not supposed to ride horses on their own. (Emphasis added)

Whoa, Nellie! Hang on a minute. Madonna spanked him?

Well, maybe. When I first saw this, Shannon pointed out that sometimes little kids exaggerate. I've never hit either of my children but my oldest once informed someone that I had. Somewhat out of the blue, I might add. Luckily it was a person who was inclined to take my word for it (a relative). But if it had been a teacher, I don't know how that would have gone over.

Still, it's interesting to think about. Do you think Madonna spanks her kids? Or maybe she has the nanny do it? Or is David just a little kid exaggerating?

Source: PerezHilton

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Madonna Adoption Denied, Appeal Filed

Brett Singer — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT

A Malawi court ruled on Friday that Madonna could not adopt 4-year-old Mercy James because she had not been a resident of the country for 18 months.

As my son sometimes says, "I didn't see that coming."

Why do I say that? Well, here's the thing. She already adopted a kid from Malawi. David Banda. Remember him? Cute kid, rides horses, visited his hometown with Madge so he could hang with his biological dad?

According to the Telegraph, the rule about adoptive parents being residents of Malawai for 18-24 months was waived back in 2006 to allow Madge to adopt David. Now a local judge is concerned about setting a "dangerous precedent" if she is allowed to adopt again.

Except that the precedent was already set! You let her do it before! When you train puppies, or discipline children, you try to be consistent. I know that's an oversimplification, but isn't it silly to talk about "dangerous precedents" when you already did the thing that you now say you are worried about?

That could be why Madonna has decided to appeal the ruling. I don't know much about the law, and I know even less about Malawian legal issues (to be fair, I probably know more about brain surgery than I do about Malawian legal issues), but it seems to me that she's got a pretty good case. Because they let her adopt David Banda in 2006. Did I mention that?

It's possible that the adoption was denied because of Madonna's recent divorce from Guy Ritchie. The Telegraph quotes a government official as saying that, "Our official policy is that we do not encourage our children to be sent into broken homes." Because being raised by a single parent is clearly much worse than living in an orphanage. Never mind the fact that this particular single parent is wealthier than most of the people on the planet. And while I agree in general with human rights groups who have been saying that "whisking a single child off to a fairytale lifestyle in Hollywood" is not the answer to the world's problems, it's also not the worst thing that could happen to a kid from an impoverished country. (It's also worth noting that Madonna lives in England, not Hollywood. But whatever.)

I should point out that this is not, in my opinion, a major issue in our world today. But everything Madonna does is news, and while I don't care much about her music (or her movies, which, except for "Desperately Seeking Susan" are considerable unwatchable), I have to give her credit for commanding attention with every move she makes. I'll also give her props for starting a charity, Raising Malawi, to help other orphans in Malawi. According to the Telegraph, "She has already built a multi-purpose community centre at Mphandula village, 30 miles from Lilongwe, which looks after more than 8,000 orphans from scores of villages in the area." That's a lot of kids. So, in the language of her adopted British homeland, good on ya, mate. (Or something like that.) Of course, as Shannon pointed out, it's fine for Angelina Jolie to adopt a kid every other week, but Madonna we have a problem with. That's another topic, but one worth mentioning.

What do you think? Should Madonna be allowed to adopt Mercy James?

Source: Telegraph

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Biological Father of Madonna's Adopted Son Very Concerned

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Yohana Banda, the biological father of Madonna’s adopted son David, is very worried about the boy's happiness. Although Banda and his second wife live simply in a thatched hut in Malawi, he thinks that three-year-old David may be happier living with him than with the most famous woman in the world.

Banda put David up for adoption after his first wife, David’s biological mother, died from complications in childbirth. He hoped that David would have a better life in the U.S., but, he says, “Now I see him in a big bewildering crowd in the street with people pushing and shoving, and many cameras around, and without a mother and father to hold his hand. I’m feeling bad for him.”

Madonna’s divorce from Guy Ritchie has strengthened Banda’s concerns about David’s welfare. “This is a new and terrible thing to happen to him. I am too upset to think clearly,” Banda said.

Although this is clearly a unique case, Banda's concern raises interesting questions about the rights of biological parents to be involved in their children’s lives after adoption. Naturally, Banda cannot know what David’s private family life is really like without personal contact from Madonna. Do you think Madonna has an obligation to reassure Banda of David’s happiness, or are her family’s decisions none of his business?

Photo: Celebpick's Weblog

Woman goes to jail for adopting children to get money

Brett Singer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:00:00 GMT

I know times are tough, but if I ever say to my wife, "Hey honey, I know how we can make some extra cash. Let's adopt a few kids!" I hope she dropkicks me into next week.

Judith Leekin, a 63-year-old woman, made over $1 million – yes, one MILLION dollars – from the subsidies offered to parents who adopt. She actually targeted "only special-needs children," because they brought the most money from NYC Children's Services. $55 a day.

So what's the problem? No law against adopting kids, right? Well, according to WCBS-TV, she was hideously abusive: the 11 children were, "handcuffed, battered, deprived of food and medicine and locked in a room." She never sent them to school, and hid them from anyone who came to her home. The money was used to keep up a "lavish lifestyle." This went on from 1988 until mid-2007; by that time she had moved the kids to Florida after adopting 11 children in New York City.

When first arrested last year, she denied the charges, and her lawyer claimed that she "loved and nurtured the children." Her biological son also defended her, saying that she was a good mom. A New York judge decided not to believe any of them, and she's been sentenced to "nearly 11 years" in prison. That doesn't seem long enough, but it was a plea bargain, so that's the way it goes.

So how exactly does this happen? No idea. She used fake names, went to different adoption agencies, and I suppose has some level of intelligence since she did things like forge report cards to appease NYC officials. An earlier story says that she might have been doing this since the 1970's, but that doesn't appear to factor in to this week's jail sentence.

Where are the kids now? Some are in foster homes, one is old enough to support himself and live alone, and another one may have died while in Leekin's care.

Nasty, nasty stuff, but at least she's been caught and punished.

image/source: wcbstv.com

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Strollerderby : adopt

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