Madonna's adoption ruling delayed until Friday

U.S. pop singer Madonna leaves the high court in Lilongwe March 30, 2009. Madonna appeared in a Malawi court on Monday seeking to adopt a second child, a girl called Mercy James, from the southern African country. [Agencies]

Some Malawians have said, though, that they support Madonna in her effort to adopt the little girl.

"We are blessed for what Madonna is doing here," said E. Ngulinga, who was among the onlookers gathered outside the courthouse Monday.

"That baby is going to have the advantages of going to school and of becoming someone," he said. "Here it is very difficult."

Ngulinga said he hoped the girl and Madonna's adopted son, David, would return when they were older to help Malawi, an impoverished country where 14 percent of adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The U.N. estimates that half of the 1 million Malawian children who have lost one or both parents have been orphaned by AIDS.

If the latest adoption goes through, Madonna would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with ex-husband and British film director Guy Ritchie and a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.

Madonna brought both David and Lourdes to Malawi this time, arriving Sunday. David later spent 2 1/2 hours with his biological father at an exclusive lodge where the pop star is staying.

"I was very happy to see him," the father, Yohane Banda, told The Associated Press, adding that David did not recognize him. "He asked me who I was."

David's mother died when he was a month old. His father has said he believed he could not care for him alone, and that placing him in an orphanage was the best way to ensure David's survival.

On Sunday, Madonna and Lourdes visited the Malawi village of Chinkhota and Madonna spoke to residents and looked over drawings for a new school there.

Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while doing charity work and filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis here. Her Raising Malawi organization, founded in 2006, raises funds to fight poverty by providing food, shelter, education and health care for children here.

Last year Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, passed Elvis Presley as the star with the most top ten hits in Billboard history and staged an immensely successful "Sticky & Sweet" world concert tour.