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Charity to Madonna: Don't Adopt

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 28, 2009 11:59 AM CDT

(Newser) – A UK-based charity is asking Madonna to reconsider her plans to adopt another Malawian orphan, the BBC reports. Save the Children says orphans should be cared for by their extended families, and that being whisked away by a fabulously wealthy foreign pop star was “not a solution.” Mercy James, Madonna’s intended adoptee, has a grandmother, who likewise wants the Material Girl to stay away.

“Why doesn’t this singer pick other children? It is stealing,” Lucy James told the Sun. “I want to go to court, I won’t let her go.” Of course, Lucy herself isn’t willing to care for 4-year-old Mercy until she turns 6, something the orphanage isn’t happy about. “They want to find a better education and home for Mercy,” said Lucy. “But I am sticking to the initial agreement that Mercy will return home to me.”

[Images (4)]

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Madonna holds David Banda in her arms, in this April 19, 2007, file photo at Consol Homes, a day care center that she is funding in the village of Masekese, Malawi. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

Madonna holds David Banda in her arms, in this April 19, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

Children wash their clothes in a small river in Kumbali, Saturday March 28, 2009, in the outskirts of Lilongwe, where popstar Madonna stayed last time she came to Malawi to adopt David Banda. (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)

In this April 19, 2007, file photo, Madonna holds David Banda in her arms in Mchinji, Malawi. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

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It is vital, we say, that children should not be taken abroad to be looked after but should be cared for in their own environment by their own community. - Save the Children spokesman
Dominic Nutt

You cannot literally take every poor child across the world and transport them all into Kensington in London. It's not a solution. - Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt

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