MADONNA MERCY JAMES MALAWI ADOPTION PUT ON HOLD AMID PROTESTS

Madonna's Malawi adoption of 4 year old Mercy James has been put on hold amid protests from living relatives of the child who are angry that Madonna is snatching up one of their children in a celebrity adoption. Mercy's grandmother wonders why Madonna doesn't chose another child besides her granddaughter. Madonna's adoption of her son, David, was also met with similar protests. Thoughts? [PHOTO SOURCE: SPLASH NEWS]

Madonna did not get her adoption approved.

The singer, 50, spent about an hour in court Monday morning in the Malawi capital of Lilongwe, where a judge delayed ruling on her application to adopt a second Malawian child, 3-year-old Mercy James, until Friday. (The child's name was listed on Monday's court docket.)

Court official Thomson Ligowe would not reveal any other information.

Mercy James' grandmother, 61-year-old Lucy Chekechiwa, is reportedly against Madonna's decision to adopt. (Mercy James' single teen mother died at age 18; the girl's father is believed to be alive.)

"Why doesn't this singer pick other children?" she told Britain's The Sun. "It is stealing. I want to go to to court. I won't let her go."

It is unknown if Chekechiwa was at court Monday.

Madonna arrived in the African nation Sunday with her children, Lourdes, 12, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 3, whom she adopted from Malawi in 2007.

Criticism over her decision to adopt continued to brew over the weekend. 

Children's advocacy groups accuse her of using her wealth and influence to get around Malawian law requiring an 18- to 24-month assessment period before adoption.

Save the Children UK charity adds that her second adoption is sending the wrong message, encouraging poor parents "to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life." [US MAGAZINE]

Madonna said Tuesday that she was following standard procedures in her adoption of a Malawian girl, her first response to accusations that she is using her fame to speed the process.

The pop superstar also took her 3-year-old adopted son, David, to visit the orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border, where he once lived.

The orphanage's director Lucy Chipeta said she brought David, Madonna, her 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and 8-year-old son Rocco to see the room and crib that David had used.

"It was an emotional moment," Chipeta told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I am happy she brought her other children to see his roots."

Madonna took the children to the orphanage with a security detail including uniformed Malawian police officers and plain-clothed guards from a private security firm. The entourage used two Toyota Land Cruisers to block a horde of journalists and more than 200 curious children.

There were scuffles with the journalists, including cameramen and TV crews, as they tried to enter the brick-walled orphanage.

Madonna brought David on Monday to meet his biological father for the first time since he left Malawi in 2006.

"Madonna is committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with David's Malawian roots," said Liz Rosenberg in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

She also confirmed Madonna is trying to adopt a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James who is about 4 years old.

"Madonna is currently awaiting a judge's ruling regarding the adoption of Mercy James. She is following all standard procedures that are required," Rosenberg wrote.

A Malawian judge held a closed-door hearing Monday on Madonna's application to adopt the girl but delayed ruling on the matter until Friday.

The girl's 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth, according to the child's uncle, John Ngalande. Her father is believed to be alive but has little contact with his daughter, he said.

A coalition of non-governmental organizations called the Human Rights Consultative Committee has criticized Madonna's adoption attempts, saying that adoption should be the last resort and that children need to be taken care of by their own family.

"Mercy James is a child who has her extended close family members alive and we urge Madonna to assist the child from right here," a statement from the coalition said. [YAHOO]