Mercy’s Family Support Madonna Adoption

Just when we all thought Madonna wouldn’t be adding another child to her brood, it seems that the tables could turn after the uncle of the African orphan has slammed the child's father for coming forward - insisting he has no right to claim Mercy James as his own.

The pop superstar's bid to adopt the four-year-old fell through last week when a Malawi court refused to grant her wishes after a man claiming to be the tot's birth father subsequently went public - voicing his desire to support the child.

James Kambewa claims he didn't even know his daughter was alive until he saw her in news coverage of the Madonna adoption saga. The security guard tells People.com he thought the the girl's mother, 15-year-old Mwandida Maunde, had died in childbirth and assumed their baby was dead too. He says, "Now that I know she is alive I am willing to support her."

Upset about the death of his childhood sweetheart, Kambewa reveals he fled after the tragedy, but Maunde's family are unclear as to the father's motives for returning to claim his child.

Mercy's uncle, Peter Baneti, who signed adoption papers giving Madonna rights to become the little girl's guardian, fumes, "Where was he all this time? He wasn't there when his girlfriend was pregnant; he didn't even attend her funeral when she died eight days after giving birth to Mercy. We don't think he even knew she had a baby."

Another uncle tells the website, "If he cared he should have attempted to find out the fate of his daughter. We can't accept him to come into Mercy's life simply because she is now famous. We are angry with this boy."

According to family records, Maunde gave birth to Mercy in January, 2006. She died in early February and her daughter was placed at the Kondanani Children's Village - because her extended family members were too poor to raise her.

So we slam Madonna for using her fame to get another kid, but do we criticise the father for using Madonna’s fame to get himself noticed? Hmm, I see a vicious circle here…

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison