I’m not sure why I didn’t predict this. I apologize, because this one caught me slightly off-guard – and now I think there might be something to it. Last week, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their six kids went off on a little working holiday to Africa. While Brad and the kids stayed somewhere in Kenya, Angelina spent one day at a refugee camp on the Somalia-Kenya border. When she came back to her family, she picked up Zahara and Shiloh, and took them to Ethiopia to scout locations for an official Zahara Jolie-Pitt malaria and HIV/AIDS clinic. Or so the story played out last week.

This week, it seems like the whole “scouting clinic locales” was nothing but an excuse for a good ol’ fashioned baby-adoptin’. So Star Magazine says – they’re claiming that Angelina visited an orphanage in Ethiopia, and now she’s ready to add to the Jolie-Pitt clan:

“Angelina really bonded with this one little girl,” says an insider, explaining that Angelina first laid eyes on the 3-year-old during last week’s visit. “There were actually three kids who tugged at her heartstrings, but she absolutely fell in love with this child.”

Angelina’s not the only one smitten. “Shiloh and Zahara hugged the little girl as they were leaving… Angie said it was so sweet, and she’s determined to make her part of the family.”

Unfortunately, Brad Pitt is the major obstacle. “He’s dead set against another adoption right now and really flipped out on Angie when she told him… he thinks she isn’t being practical.”

But a second source tells Star, “Angelina isn’t asking Brad if they should adopt again, she’s telling him.”

The fight turned especially nasty when Brad accused her of being “like a kid in a pet store, wanting all the cute puppies… She screamed at him that these weren’t dogs that needed a place to live, they were children. She was livid!”

A few days later, when Brad was headed out to Spain, Angelina backed out of the trip to retaliate. “She flat-out refused to go along. Angie doesn’t want to support him if he won’t support her.”

“Brad is exhausted and just can’t handle it right now… he begged Angie to reconsider and revisit adopting in a year or so.”

“Angelina made it absolutely clear this is going to happen as soon as possible,” continues the insider. Why the rush? Angelina made a promise to Zahara that they would find her another sister from Africa, reveals the pal. “She intends to keep her word.”

“Angelina has already started the paperwork, and everything’s moving forward. She’s going to get this child, with or without Brad’s help.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 5 2009]

Obviously, I realize Star did this story a certain way because they wanted it to really be about “Brad and Angelina have been fighting non-stop for four-and-a-half years, why did they ever get together” stuff. But I think Star missed the point on something that may have a grain of truth – that Angelina probably wants to adopt again, and is probably already visiting orphanages. I think that may be true because it seems to be her (and Brad’s) m.o. About a year after adopting Zahara, she gave birth to Shiloh. A year after Shiloh, they adopted Pax. A year after Pax, Angelina had the twins. The twins are more than a year old – so it seems reasonable to me, time-wise, that they are considering it. She and Brad could have even visited orphanages while they were in Kenya, for all we know.

As for the idea that Brad’s the one holding back – he’s the one that spent the last year talking about how he wants even more kids. Also – for the alleged quote attributed to Brad saying Angelina wanted all of the “cute puppies” – all I could think about was “all of the cute gerbils”. In Star’s next story, they should have Brad screaming at Angelina, “No more babies – from now on, we’ll just adopt gerbils, you bitch!”

Here’s Angelina with the kids in New Orleans on October 6th, credit Bauer Griffin. Header with the kids visiting an art store on October 4th, 2008. Credit: Fame.

Actress Katherine Heigl, 30, and her husband of two years in December, Josh Kelley, 29, have adopted a special needs daughter from South Korea, little Naleigh, 10 months. Instead of selling the photos to a magazine, they released the photos themselves on the website for the animal foundation Katherine founded with her mother, the “Jason Debus Heigl Foundation.” It’s named after Katherine’s late older brother Jason, who died in a car accident at the age of 15 in 1986. Katherine’s charity runs a special ranch for dogs in which they rescue and re-train “medium to large dogs from high-kill shelters throughout Southern California.”

On the website for Katherine’s foundation, she explains that Naleigh is a nickname for the baby’s full name, Nancy Lee, which is a mix of her mother’s name, Nancy, and her adopted sister’s middle name, Margaret Leigh. Margaret is also from Korea and Katherine once said that adoption is something she’s “always planned.”

Meet Katherine Heigl’s new baby, Naleigh.

The Grey’s Anatomy actress and husband Josh Kelley have released the first photos of their daughter, a special-needs child they adopted from South Korea, on Heigl’s fundraising site.

“She was actually born the day before me in November, which I thought was really serendipitous and just kind of like a sign,” Heigl, 30, said when announcing the news of her adoption on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week.

In addition to four intimate photos of the family, the site explains that Naleigh is just a nickname for Nancy Leigh – named after Heigl’s mother Nancy and Heigl’s sister Margaret Leigh.

[From People]

Kaiser wondered in our last story on Naleigh – is it pronounced “Naw-Lee” or “Neigh-Lee”? Heigl said on Ellen that her name will be pronounced like “Neigh-Lee” and that she first saw photos of her six months ago and had not yet met Naleigh at that point. She said that normally the process of adopting from South Korea takes much longer, but that her daughter has special needs and that “because of that, it all moved so much faster. They wanted to get her to us as quickly as possible.”

Katherine Heigl is not my favorite person and I generally find her insufferable, it’s something I just can’t not mention when talking about her, but this is a very wonderful thing she’s doing and she’ll make all the difference in that little girl’s life. She also deserves a lot of credit for releasing the photos on the website for her charity. Best wishes to Katherine, Josh and little Naleigh. These photos are just adorable.

Here is Katherine’s adoption announcement on Ellen last week:

I’ve always appreciated Elton John’s perspective on children. He’s given interview after interview over the years describing, with a lot of honesty, his lack of desire to become a father. He always said it was because of the schedule he kept with touring and all, and that he loved and adored being a godfather to some crazy amount of godchildren (the count’s at a dozen, I think, including Liz Hurley‘s son Damien and at least one of the Beckham boys). Elton had already claimed that when he dies, his money will go to charity and to his godchildren. Elton has also always been honest about his advancing years. Elton is 62 years old – so it seems strange that this is the point in his life when he would begin to seriously consider becoming a father. But it looks like Elton is reconsidering, all because a 14-month-old Ukrainian orphan “stole his heart”:

Sir Elton John said he wants to adopt a 14-month-old boy from an orphanage in Ukraine who has ‘stolen his heart’.

The 62-year-old singer was introduced to the toddler while visiting the country with his Aids foundation.

During the trip the musician performed ‘Circle of Life’ for the children, some of whom were there because their parents had died of the disease.

At a press conference later, he and partner David Furnish, 46, were asked whether they had thought of adopting.

Sir Elton said: ‘David and I have always talked about adoption, David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said ‘no’ because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn’t be fair for the child.’

‘But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don’t know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David’s heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I’ve changed my mind today.’

The singer added that the death of his long-term keyboardist, Guy Babylon, had also helped change his mind.

‘Last week I lost one of my best friends, my keyboard player died of a heart attack at 52. It broke my heart because he was such a genius and so young and has two wonderful children. What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to.’

‘I don’t know what the procedure is to adopt a boy from the Ukraine. I don’t think that I can because England has a treaty with the Ukraine but David is Canadian so we might be able to work through something like that.’

Sir Elton has been in a relationship with Furnish, a former advertising executive and now film maker, since 1993. They entered into a civil partnership in December 2005.

Ukraine has the fastest rising HIV rates in Europe. Two years ago Sir Elton gave a free concert on the main square in Kiev attended by tens of thousands people to raise awareness of HIV and Aids.

The singer has been heavily involved in the fight against Aids since the late 1980s, and was knighted in 1998. The Elton John Aids Foundation collaborates with the Ukrainian Anti-Aids Foundation of Olena Franchuk, daughter of former President Leonid Kuchma.

[From the Daily Mail]

A lot of sources seem to be running this story like “Elton John plans to adopt right now” but I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. Elton sounds more like he’s thinking aloud, trying to figure out if there’s a way for him to adopt the child, and whether or not it would be a good idea. Radar has pictures of the little boy, and you can see why the kid stole Elton’s heart – the baby looks like a sweetheart. Personally, I think Elton is too old to adopt in general, but I can understand why he’s at a point in his life where he thinks he could now be a father. If the adoption happens, God bless. I’m sure Elton and David Furnish would make great dads.

Update: Here are photos of Elton John and David Furnish at a “news conference at a orphanage for HIV positive children in the town of Makeyevka, Ukraine on September 12, 2009. The 62 year old singer has announced that he and his partner David Furnish want to give a home to a 14 month old boy from the Ukrainian HIV orphanage. Sir Elton said the blond-haired child, called Lev, had ‘stolen his heart’. He said: ‘I would love to adopt him.’” [Quote from photo source: Fame Pictures]

Update #2: Ukraine’s minister for family affairs released a statement saying that there would be no way for Elton and David to adopt this child, or any child from Ukraine. The minister says, “Foreign citizens who are single have no right to adopt children … and the age difference between the adopter and the child cannot be more than 45 years… The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John.” Elton and David are married – in England. Their union is not recognized by the Ukrainian government, so that’s why both of them would be considered “single”. As for the age thing – well, yeah. That’s a bigger deal (in my mind) than any question about their single status.

Elton John and David Furnish are shown in St. Tropez on 8/6/09 and 8/13/09. Credit: WENN.com

In a lovely piece of “Stealing Ellen Pompeo’s Thunder” News, sources close to Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley condirmed to Radar and now People that the couple is just days away from finalizing an adoption. Radar reports that Josh and Katherine will be adopting a baby girl from South Korea named Nayleigh, nicknamed Leigh. I love the name Leigh – it’s always seemed to me a very Southern name, and a lot Southern girls have “Leigh” as their middle name. Sandra Leigh, Jennifer Leigh, Grace Leigh, Georgia Leigh, you get the picture. All that being said, I find the name Nayleigh very strange. I’m trying to say it out loud, and it just comes out like I’m a drunk Southerner: Is it pronounced “Naw-Lee” or “Neigh-Lee”?

Katherine Heigl is adopting a baby this week, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively. The Grey’s Anatomy star is becoming a mom to a baby girl, sources told RadarOnline.com.

Heigl and husband Josh Kelley have wanted a baby for a long time, the source said, and the adoption process has been in the works for at least six months.

The baby is from Korea. Her full name is Nayleigh and her nickname will be Leigh, RadarOnline.com learned. The baby is approximately 10 months old.

“She is thrilled,” a source close to the situation told RadarOnline.com. “She and Josh are so happy.”

The idea of adoption is nothing new for the actress, as she told USA Today two years that it’s something she’s “always planned.”

“I’m done with the whole idea of having my own children,” Heigl said.

“[It] doesn’t seem like any fun. I don’t think it’s necessary to go through all of that.”

Heigl’s own sister Meg is adopted from Korea. Heigl is on leave of absence from “Grey’s” and starts filming the big-screen feature Life As We Know It next week.

Katherine also recently hosted costar Ellen Pompeo’s bridal shower. Heigl and Kelley married on December 27, 2007 in Park City, Utah.

[From Radar Online]

Katherine has an adopted sister, Meg, originally from Korea, and Katherine has said before that she feels very strongly pro-adoption. So pro-adoption, at one point last year she seemed very anti-biological children in total, saying “I’m done with the whole idea of having my own children. [Giving birth] doesn’t seem like any fun. I don’t think it’s necessary to go through all of that.” Just last month while Katherine was promoting The Ugly Truth, she was asked again about getting pregnant, and she said “One day, sure. But pregnancy scares me. I know I’ll be one of those women who looks pregnant all over the body. I’ll get fatter and fatter from my toes up.”

There were even rumors last year that Katherine was on the verge of adopting from South Korea, but I guess they decided to wait. I was looking up South Korean adoption laws, and I found out something interesting – according to the International Adoption Guidebook, South Korean guidelines include: “Couples aged 25 to 44 years old who have been married at least three years may adopt. There must be no more than one divorce in each parent’s past. Single parents may not adopt from South Korea.” Katherine and Josh have only been married for about 20 months… so, maybe they got some kind of waiver or something. I’m sure they make exceptions.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley are shown out shopping on 8/22/09. Credit: O’Duran/Fame Pictures

I love me some Janet Jackson, and I can’t even describe why. She just seems like a really cool customer to me – in interviews, she seems shy, composed and intelligent, and yet when she’s singing or performing, she’s so hardcore. I love that dichotomy. So, as you can imagine, I’m all over Janet’s new interview in Harper’s Bazaar. She opens up a lot about her brother Michael’s death, but she doesn’t really talk about her split with Jermaine Dupri, only confirming that it happened. She does say that she doesn‘t know if she‘ll ever get married again (she‘s already been divorced twice), but she does say that when it comes to being a mother, “I’d adopt.” Read the full Bazaar interview here, but this is Us Weekly’s excerpt from the interview:

In her first interview since her brother Michael’s June 25 death, Janet Jackson says she been unable to watch television.

“It will drive you crazy,” she tells October’s Harper’s Bazaar. “People can have rhinoceros skin, but there’s a point when something’s going to hurt you. Not everyone is stone, stone. I haven’t watched the news in weeks. I had to ask my chef, ‘How’s Obama doing?’ I haven’t read a newspaper. On top of that, [we've lost] a family member.”

At times during the interview, Janet – who will perform a tribute to her late brother at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards – was at a loss for words.

“My brother is, I mean was…” she stammers when talking about Michael’s style. Shifting on the couch and staring at the floor, she adds, “You have to forgive me, because it’s really hard to believe he’s passed.”

Michael was laid to rest last week in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. His death, caused by “acute propofol intoxication,” has been ruled a homicide; several doctors are under investigation. Though she did not discuss her brother’s prescription drug history, Janet says he seemed in good spirits the last time she saw him: May 14 at a family gathering two days before her 43rd birthday.

“We had so much fun that day,” she says, noting that ate Thai food and tormented each other. “We kept calling each other after and saying how great it was.”

So how is she coping? Recently spending three days on a beach helped, she says.

“It was the first time I had to myself since Michael passed, the first time I could get away since all of that,” says the singer.

She also has been throwing herself into work (she was on set in Atlanta shooting a Tyler Perry movie when she got the call that Michael had died).

“I’ve been doing okay,” she says. “Work helps focus all of that energy on something that is of value to you.”

Looking back at his death, she says she has learned a lot. She says she was touched after Michael’s daughter Paris, 11, spoke at her father’s public memorial. Fighting back tears, Paris told the crowd, “Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine.”

Says Janet, “I was really proud. People said to me that Michael’s daughter speaking really gave them a sense of how he was as a father, in her words. Paris is incredibly smart; they are all so smart. She’s a sweet girl. The kids are doing well. They’re with all their cousins; that family love will keep them going.”

She’s also learned she has her mother Katherine’s “strength.”

“Now at least I know that I can step up to the plate and not crumble when I’m needed,” says Janet. “When it comes to something like this that is so, so serious, so painful, so traumatic, I can handle it.”

Janet also confirms Us Weekly’s exclusive report that she’s split from beau of seven years, music producer Jermaine Dupri. The singer – who’s been married twice (as a teen to James DeBarge and to choreographer Rene Elizondo) – tells the magazine, “I don’t know if I’ll get married again. I’ll put it like this: If God wants me to, then I will.”

As for kids, “I’d adopt,” Janet says. “And I think that if I’m really supposed to have kids, it will happen, if that’s God’s plan for me.”

[From Us Weekly]

Sigh. I love Janet. Us Weekly missed a couple of excerpts that I thought were interesting, though. Janet says Michael nicknamed her “Dunk” and that he had a “corny, sometimes dry” sense of humor. Janet also talks about how protective they were of one another: “He was always very protective of me…When I was 14 years old, I would shop for him, washed his clothes, cleaned his room. When Mother would go out of town, she’d say ‘I’m leaving you in charge, take care of Mike.’ I would head home from school, see what he needed, then go straight to the stores.” Janet also reveals a big wardrobe secret – the iconic black sequined jacket Michael wore was their mother’s – “He grabbed that from her closet!”

Thanks to Harper’s Bazaar for the pictures.

As Katherine Heigl promotes the hell out of The Ugly Truth, she’s been forced to talk about some subjects that she’d honestly rather not. I think first up for Heigl’s worst topics is her smoking habit. Personally, I’m not a hater (about that, anyway). It’s tough to quit, and it’s even tougher to get to that place where you think “Okay, I can quit now and really stick with it”. Think about this way – could you “quit” caffeine? They’re similar addictions. I know some (many) think smoking is worse than illegal drugs, so whatever… agree to disagree.

The second weird topic for Heigl is the whole baby thing. The one thing I’ll never understand is why everyone is always asking Heigl about babies. She’s obviously still a smoker – she will have to quit before she gets pregnant. I guess the tabloids (and perhaps, we, as a society) look at someone like Katherine and we’re all “she’s married now, she should have babies next!” According to In Touch Weekly, this is just what is going through Katherine’s mind too – according to their sources, Heigl has informed Grey’s Anatomy producers to prepare for a pregnancy:

According to an insider, Katherine has informed Grey’s Anatomy producers that she and her husband Josh are trying to start a family, so that her pregnancy can be written into the show’s storyline.

“They are ready for a child,” says the insider. “She gave her TV bosses a heads-up, just in case she gets pregnant soon.”

Katherine and Josh reportedly also plan to adopt a child from Korea (where Katherine’s sister was adopted from), but Korean law requires that a couple be married for three years prior to adopting. Since they’ve only been married for a year and a half, they’re trying for a biological baby first. Says an insider, “They are hoping for a big family.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, August 3 2009]

Meh to that report. I don’t buy that Katherine’s trying to get pregnant (because she’s still smoking), but I might buy that she and Josh are considering adoption. But why does it always have to be from South Korea? Just because her sister was adopted from South Korea? That rumor has been percolating for a while, and I’m not sure if anything will come of it.

Katherine also talked about her body image, dieting and pregnancy to Star Magazine. She claims she’s “scared” to get pregnant because she knows she’ll get fat:

Q: You are curvy, which translates as: You don’t diet yourself to death. Do you have a quick beauty fix?
KH: I stop eating! I’m not small-boned, and my bra size went from a B cup to 32DD when I was 18, so there’s only so much I can do.

Q: Are you and Josh thinking about babies?
KH: One day, sure. But pregnancy scares me. I know I’ll be one of those women who looks pregnant all over the body. I’ll get fatter and fatter from my toes up!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, August 3 2009]

So, which is it? Do you think Katherine’s trying to get pregnant, or trying to adopt? Or none of the above? I really don’t think she‘s into babies right now. Her career is going at a steady clip, and she probably doesn’t want to break that rhythm for a little while longer. And besides, it’s her business, not ours.

Katherine Heigl is shown outside The Late Show on 7/20/09. Credit: WENN.com

Emma Thompson and Tindyebwa Agaba in 2008. Credit: Getty Images

I would totally go lesbian for Emma Thompson twenty times over. I love that woman so much, and it seems like every story I read about her, every interview I read with her, every film I watch with her, I just love her more and more. Put Gerard Butler, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, and Emma Thompson in front of me, and I’m going to go all geeky, obsessed, insane, frothing-at-the-mouth fangirl crazy on Emma, and only Emma. Well, I might give Clive the side-eye, but my heart would still belong to Emma.

This latest story about her just confirms my decades-long belief that she’s a goddess-empress in desperate need of a queendom. And I shall be her most loyal supplicant! Emma and her hottie husband Greg Wise informally adopted a teenage Rwandan refugee six years ago. Tindyebwa “Tindy” Agaba had been a child soldier during the Rwandan civil war, and it is believed that his birth mother and father, as well as his sister, are all dead. He had been brought to England with Care International, and Emma and Greg met him in 2003, at a Refugee Council party. What started out as a loose friendship between Emma’s family and Tindy grew into a family situation quickly. And Tindy wanted his “adopted” mom, dad, and little sister at his graduation (with honors) from Exeter University:

Six years ago she saved him from a life of unimaginable hardship, as a child soldier in war-torn Rwanda. And yesterday Emma Thompson beamed with pride as she watched her adopted African son graduate from university.

Wearing a cream suit and green satin jacket, the 50-year-old actress wrapped her arm around Tindyebwa Agaba as he clutched his ribbon-tied scroll. And along with Miss Thompson’s husband Greg Wise, the family proudly posed for the student’s official graduation photo.

Dressed in a traditional black cloak and mortarboard, 22-year-old Tindyebwa grinned with delight as Exeter University Chancellor Floella Benjamin presented him with his 2.1 honours degree in politics.

‘I admit I found my first year very difficult, the second year was less difficult and the third year was an absolute blast,’ he said after the ceremony.

‘So in a nutshell I’ve been from hell to heaven in three years.’

Miss Thompson and Mr Wise met Tindyebwa, known as Tindy for short, at a Refugee Council party in 2003, when he was 16 years old.

His father had died from AIDS when he was just nine and his mother and sister were listed as missing during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, having probably been abducted and raped by soldiers. Tindy was forced to serve as a child soldier, but charity Care International eventually helped him flee to Britain, where he met his adoptive parents.

‘He didn’t have much English, but we just got talking,’ Miss Thompson has previously said. ‘His experience had been awful and when he finally got to Britain after tremendous suffering, he told us the authorities didn’t believe him.’

‘He spent two nights sleeping rough before they finally did. It was the only time he considered suicide. He’s such a lovely, enchanting boy, so I said “Come and spend Christmas with us”. And he came for half the day. Slowly he became a permanent fixture, went on holidays with us and became part of the family.’

Adopting Tindy also helped the actress, who had tried and failed to have more children after undergoing IVF to conceive daughter Gaia, now eight years old. Wise has described the process as ‘brutal’ and admitted it left him requiring therapy.

‘You try your hardest and, if it doesn’t work, it’s not your fault,’ he said.

After learning to speak English, Tindy studied GCSEs and A-levels before winning a place at Exeter University. He said he chose Exeter because his surrogate family had told him of the ‘stunning beauty there, where they shot Sense And Sensibility’ – the 1995 film on which Miss Thompson met her 43-year-old husband.

From September, Tindy plans to attend London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where he will study for a Masters Degree in Human Rights Law.

[From The Daily Mail]

My love for Emma is enough to sustain me, but how incredible is Greg Wise? I love a man who’s secure enough to speak openly about the struggles he and his wife had with conceiving. Last year, there were rumors that Tindy might be deported back to Rwanda, that his application for residency might be denied. Fortunately, it’s said that Emma and Greg fought hard through the courts to keep Tindy in England, and his application for was granted. I hope Tindy continues on with his studies at law school, and becomes the best human rights lawyer ever!

Ever since Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher got together, there have been rumors about pregnancies and adoptions. Personally, I think Demi and Aston would like to have a child together, but it’s not their top priority. Ashton seems more than happy being a step-dad to Demi and Bruce Willis’s three daughters, and he and Demi seem to have a stronger marriage than most Hollywood couples. But In Touch Weekly is trying to reignite those old adoptions rumors anew – this time with a dash of Madonna! Madonna and Demi are pretty tight – I think Demi got Madonna into Kabbalah, or vice versa, and they’ve worked together on a couple of projects. They seem to be professional friends – not gossipy BFFs, but they show up to support each other’s projects.

Anyway, In Touch is claiming that Madonna is trying to convince Demi and Ashton to adopt… from Malawi. Because Madonna had no problems there, right? According to a source, Demi and Ashton are seriously considering it:

Demi Moore and her husband Aston Kutcher may really have something to Tweet about soon – a baby! After years of trying to conceive, Demi and Ashton are now considering adoption, and their good pal Madonna has been encouraging them to follow her lead and go to Malawi, where her children David and Mercy are from.

“Madonna has apparently been trying to get Demi and Ashton to adopt ever since her son David. She has been very enthusiastic about it,” the couple’s friend reveals.

“They weren’t ready back then, but now they’re moving in that direction.”

Demi, 46, has raised three daughters with ex-husband Bruce Willis, but Aston, 31, has been a very involved step dad.

“There is not a human being I could love more than those girls and their mom,” Ashton has said. “If I had a daughter that was of my blood, I wouldn’t love that child any more.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, July 13 2009]

Meh. I’d buy that Madonna is trying to convince Demi and Ashton to adopt in general, but not from Malawi. Malawi is Madonna’s “thing” and I doubt she wants anyone stepping on her sketchy turf. But I could be wrong… maybe Madonna is so delusional that she thinks if Demi and Ashton go down to Malawi and try to “adopt” a child in a country with a non-existent foreign adoption system that somehow Madge will have some kind of vindication? Did that make any kind of sense? Yeah, neither does this report.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are shown in Berlin on 2/11/09. Credit: Fame Pictures and WENN.com

Madonna’s new daughter Mercy, three (or four by different accounts), arrived in London on Saturday morning, accompanied by a nanny, nurse and aide who were flown to Malawi by private jet to pick her up. Madonna did not go to Malawi to pick up the girl. To be slightly fair to Madonna, she was in NY and had to fly with her family to London, so it’s possible she just wanted to see Mercy as soon as possible. It still seems self-centered that she didn’t personally go to Malawi to make sure that the little girl she fought so hard to adopt was ok on the flight over. Madonna then brought Mercy to the Kabbalah centre in London on Saturday. You would think she would make sure that Mercy was comfortable with her new home first, but she was probably excited and couldn’t wait to introduce her to everyone:

Mercy Chifundo James, the 3-year-old toddler adopted by Madonna, was secretly flown from her home country of Malawi to London early Saturday morning.

“A private jet flew in from South Africa and collected her at five minutes to six last evening,” an airport source tells PEOPLE. “She connected to London from Johannesburg at 10:30 p.m.”

Mercy, who will be joining big sister, Lourdes, brothers Rocco and David Banda, – also a 3-year-old from Malawi – was accompany by a nanny, a child nurse and another aide. Madonna has homes in England and in the United States.

Malawi’s highest court granted the adoption June 12, overturning an April court ruling that the pop star had not spent enough time in Malawi to be given another child.

Madonna, who was seen leaving London by private jet Friday afternoon after earlier flying in from New York’s JFK airport, was still expected in Malawi, but no one could confirm when she would arrive.

“There are still preparation for her coming,” said a source at Raising Malawi, the charity the singer set up in the African nation. “We still have a two-week booking at Kumbali Lodge.”

I doubt Madonna will go back to Malawi anytime soon and that booking was probably a formality. MSNBC’s The Scoop has some insider information that comes across like it’s straight from Madonna’s camp. They say that of course Madonna wouldn’t have withdrawn charity support from Malawi if this adoption had not been granted. The way they word it makes it seem like a distinct possibility that Madonna would have done just that, though:

Don’t expect the controversy over the adoption to end, however. Initially, a Malawian court ruled that Madonna couldn’t adopt the 3-year-old girl because Madonna hadn’t fulfilled the country’s residency requirements. On June 12, a judge in the country’s high court said the previous judge applied too narrow a definition of residency to the situation, and that Madonna’s commitment to her charity Raising Malawi should be taken into account.

“Behind the scenes, there was a lot of pressure on Mercy’s father and the judge to allow this (adoption)” a source connected to Raising Malawi said.

Even if the adoption hadn’t been granted, Madonna’s charity work would have continued, according to the source.

“It’s not like she’d quit doing the work — she clearly cares about the children in that country and its an essential link to her son David. But it would create an awkward situation.”

The fear isn’t whether Madonna will provide a good home to Mercy, it’s what the future will hold where the girl’s remaining family in Malawi is concerned.

“David’s family has spoken out since he was adopted (suggesting that David’s father wanted him back),” said the source. “Mercy still has family there, and there’s a good chance that as they see the life Mercy has, they’ll be wanting to benefit in some way from Mercy’s new life. It’s not an easy situation, but Madonna is just trying to do what’s best for Mercy.”

[From MSNBC's The Scoop]

I don’t agree that Mercy’s family is only trying to benefit from her adoption by Madonna. That could definitely be part of it, but her father had no idea she was alive until the news of the adoption came out and was trying to have some kind of relationship with her. If Madonna wanted to do what’s best for Mercy she would have tried to figure out if her family was earnest about seeing her and raising her. The adoption is complete now and Mercy will live a jet-setting materially privileged life with Madonna, her children and her various staff members. Madonna loves David and she’ll love this little girl as her own. She’s not going to have a lot of time to spend with her though, as she’s starting a 24-city 2 month tour on July 4.

Madonna is shown holding Mercy under an umbrella outside the Kabbalah Centre in London on 6/20/09. Credit: ALMASI/ROCHA/bauergriffinonline.com. She is also shown at the airport with her family on 6/19/09. LMASI/PARSONS/bauergriffinonline.com

It seems there’s no denying Madonna. After Madonna’s first adoption attempt on two-and-half-year-old (3-year-old?) Mercy James was denied, Madonna and her lawyers sent into motion an extensive appeal. Personally, I thought it was a fool’s errand – it seemed the legal system of Malawi had enough of Madonna, and I doubted a different judge would send mercy James to live with Madge. I was wrong, though. Just this morning (in Malawi), a second judge ruled that Madonna had the right to adopt to Mercy. This comes after Madonna’s representatives denied that the appeal would go Madge’s way, but no matter. There’s also some vague discussion of “a private jet being prepared”. Don’t worry, Madonna isn’t going to physically go to Malawi and pick up her new daughter and comfort the little girl through what will be a difficult transition – no, Madge is just sending the jet.

Madonna’s family has just gotten bigger, now that the pop star has legally won the right to adopt a daughter from Malawi.

Preparations are already underway to bring Chifundo “Mercy” James, 3, from the African country to America private jet, after the singer stayed up throughout the night hoping for a courtroom victory.

“It’s the early hours in New York now but my client has been awake all night waiting for this,” Madonna’s Malawi lawyer, Alan Chinula, tells PEOPLE. The attorney spoke to his client as soon as the ruling was made official, at around 2 a.m. her time Friday. “She was ecstatic when I broke the news to her. She said, ‘Thank heavens.’ ”

Chinula says he is “now awaiting instructions from New York to start preparing travel arrangements for Mercy. I have to be there for her passports and everything.”

It is likely to take three to five days before the paperwork is ready and the child is able to leave and join fellow adoptee David, also 3. He was formally adopted in 2008 after some controversy and legal challenges.

Madonna, 50, is not expected to fly out to Africa from New York, but Philippe Van Der Bossche, director of her Raising Malawi charity, has been asked to arrange a private jet as soon as possible.

It is believed that Mercy may, in the short term, be moved to the Kumbali lodge where Madonna stays when she is Malawi.

The ruling – by Malawi’s highest court – was made after a lower court had turned down Madonna’s first bid to adopt Mercy in April. That court had said the singer had not spent enough time in Malawi.

[From People]

Congratulations are in order! Madonna got her way – as she almost always does. Though I don’t think much of many, many aspects of Madonna, I do think that Mercy’s life will be better with Madonna, and I’m not just talking about Mercy’s quality of life. Though I don’t find Madge to be the best mom in the world, she’s far from the worst, and I believe she genuinely loves and adores her kids, and feels a real connection to Mercy. I also have to give Madonna some respect for not backing down in the face of her first adoption denial. Though I questioned Madonna’s press-seeking motives, and her nonexistent concerns for another country’s laws, hopefully it all came from a good place. I hope, I hope. Congratulations to the happy family – I’m sure Lola is thrilled to have a new little sister!