2006-2007 Echo Issue Outline ... to return to the page you "clicked" from, simply close this window



Related issue outlines:
No related issue outlines
Dictionary: Double-click on any word in the text to bring up a dictionary definition of that word in a new window (IE only).
Analysing the language of the news media: Click here to read a useful document on media language analysis
Age, Herald-Sun and Australian items: Click this icon ...

... to search the Echo newspaper index and enter the following word(s), with just a space in between them.
madonna
adopt

Sydney Morning Herald index: Click here to use the State Library of NSW's online index to the Sydney Morning Herald
Search for listed newspaper items online - see end of this page

2007/07 The Madonna adoption: should celebrities be discouraged from adopting children from other countries?<BR>

2007/07 The Madonna adoption: should celebrities be discouraged from adopting children from other countries?


What they said ...
'What we see today ... [is] American celebrities who go on a spree of child shopping to Africa and other poor countries'
Bashir Goth, a Somali translator and freelance writer whose parents resisted the offer of an American woman to adopt him

'We have been monitoring her and so far we see a loving mother in Madonna'
Adrina Mchiela, the principal secretary in Malawi's Ministry of Women and Child Welfare

The issue at a glance
On October 13, 2006, pop icon Madonna left the south east African nation of Malawi after receiving official permission to adopt a one-year-old boy, David Banda, from the impoverished country.
Madonna's adoption of the child is provisional and she, and her husband, British film director Guy Ritchie, will be monitored in their care of the boy for the next 18 months. The child will live with the couple and their two other children in England.
Madonna's attempted adoption of David Banda has provoked a great deal of controversy. There was an attempt by a protest group within England to have it declared illegal, the boy's natural father has appeared ambivalent about Madonna's adoption of his son, while American actor Angelina Jolie, who has herself adopted two children (a boy from Cambodia and a girl from Ethiopia) was first reported as criticising Madonna for adopting from a country where foreign adoption was illegal and was then reported as supporting the singer's actions.
Throughout the controversy the world media in general and the British media in particular have reported extensively on Madonna's behaviour and supposed motives.

Background
Economic and child welfare conditions in Malawi
(The following information has been taken, in substantially edited form, from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The full entry can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawi)
The Republic of Malawi is a democratic country located in south-eastern Africa. It is one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most densely populated countries. Lilongwe, Malawi's capital since 1971, has a population which exceeds 400,000. All government ministries and the Parliament are located in Lilongwe.
Malawi's climate is subtropical. A rainy season runs from November through April. There is little to no rainfall throughout most of the country from May to October. It is hot and humid from October to April along the lake and in the Lower Shire Valley. Lilongwe is also hot and humid during these months.
Malawi is a landlocked country. Its economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Malawi has few exploitable mineral resources. Its three most important export crops are (in order) tobacco, tea and sugar. Malawi's president recently urged farmers to consider growing other crops, such as cotton, as an alternative to the country's principal crop, tobacco, as cigarette consumption in the West continues to decline. Traditionally Malawi has been self-sufficient in its staple food, maize, and during the 1980s exported substantial quantities to its drought-stricken neighbours. Agriculture represents 38.6% of the GDP, accounts for over 80% of the labour force, and represents about 80% of all exports. Nearly 90% of the population engages in subsistence farming.
Malawi's economic reliance on the export of agricultural commodities renders it particularly vulnerable to external shocks such as declining terms of trade and drought. High transport costs, which can comprise over 30% of its total import bill, constitute a serious impediment to economic development and trade. Malawi must import all its fuel products. Paucity of skilled labour, difficulty in obtaining expatriate employment permits, bureaucratic red tape, corruption and inadequate and deteriorating road, electricity, water, and telecommunications infrastructure further hinder economic development in Malawi.
Life expectancy in Malawi is now as low as 36.5 years, five years lower than it was 50 years ago. This drop is due to the population's impoverishment, which is marked by insufficient nutrition, poor access to medical treatment, low income (the mean per capita income in Malawi is less than $1 per day), insufficient school education, the spread of HIV/AIDS and government economic restrictions.
Child mortality is 103 deaths per 1,000 children per year. There are more than a million orphans, 700,000 of whom became orphans when their parents died of AIDS.
According to Malawi government estimates, 14.2% of the population are HIV-positive, and 90,000 deaths in 2003 were due to AIDS. Unofficial estimates based on private hospital entries give a HIV infection percentage of 30%.

Internet information
On June 34, 2002, the British newspaper, The Guardian, published an opinion piece titled, 'Adoption in Hollywood'. Written by Dea Birkett, it examined the phenomenon of celebrity adoption and highlighted some of the dangers and inequities associated with it. The primary focus of the article is Angelina Jolie's adoption of her first Cambodian-born child, later named Maddox. The article strongly suggests that neither Jolie nor her then husband Billy Bob Thornton would be have been likely to be judged suitable parents if the normal standards were applied. The article can be found at http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-24-2002-20971.asp

On October 10, 2006, the Malawi children's rights organisation, Eye of the Child, released an open letter to Madonna expressing its concern over the manner of her attempt to adopt David Banda. The full text of this letter can be found at
http://www.crin.org/docs/eye_child_mad.doc

On October 12, 2006, The University of Technology Sydney's online news site NewsDay published an analysis of international adoption. The analysis was sparked by the controversy surrounding Madonna's actions and though it gives the opinions of a variety of experts appears to be essentially unsympathetic to international celebrity adoption. The analysis can be found at http://studentwork.hss.uts.edu.au/newsday/story_content/features/adoption.html

On October 17, 2006, BBC News produced a set of questions and answers relating to major aspects of the adoption process as it exists in Malawi and Britain. This information can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6058728.stm

On October 18, 2006, BBC News produced a detailed outline of the legal and social/emotional difficulties associated with international adoption. The report was titled, 'Potential pitfalls of adopting abroad'
The article can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6061466.stm

On October 25, 2006, Madonna appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to justify her adoption of David Banda. A partial transcript of this interview can be found at http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200610/20061025/slide_20061025_350_101.jhtml

On October 26, 2006, BBC News produced a timeline listing the major events in Madonna attempts to adopt David Banda. This timeline can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6088594.stm

On November 14, 2006, the On Line Opinion site published a comment by Bashir Goth, a Somali translator and freelance writer. Bashir Goth argues that there are better ways to assist impoverished nations than international adoption. His comment is titled, 'Adopt villages, not pet children'. This article can be found at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5147

Arguments against celebrity adoptions
1. Both the celebrity's and the adoption agency's motives may be suspect
A chief concern among critics of international adoption is the lack of regulation governing the process - and the danger that children's needs are not put first.
Several dozen nations are signatories to the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, which seeks to protect children by requiring the same scrutiny of international as of domestic adoptions. But the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, warns that lack of legal oversight in some countries 'has spurred the growth of an industry around adoption, where profit, rather than the best interests of children, take centre stage'.
Relatedly it has been suggested that where the adoptive parent is a celebrity they may be more interested in the child as a means of attracting media attention or of establishing a family without having to put their careers on hold. It has further been suggested that such celebrity parents may have no real respect for the children they are adopting or the world from which they are taking them.
Bashir Goth, a Somali poet, journalist, professional translator and freelance writer whose parents resisted the offer of an American woman to adopt him has been critical of such adoptions. Bashir Goth has stated, 'What we see today ... [is] American celebrities who go on a spree of child shopping to Africa and other poor countries. It just hits them like that - to get a toy brother or a toy sister for their pampered children - and all it takes is to make a media-hyped trip to the open African market to view poor, naked children and select the best toy money can buy to satisfy their fantasy: just like they would hit the nearest boutique to satisfy their craving for the latest fashion accessory.'

2. The celebrity's wealth and prestige may allow him or her to sidestep regulations
Inter-rational adoption is generally prohibited in Malawi. The Malawian children's rights organisation, 'Eye of the Child', stated in an open letter to Madonna, 'inter-country adoption is prohibited under the Malawi current Children Adoption Act as section 3(5) reads "an adoption order shall not be made in favour of any applicant who is not a resident in Malawi or in respect of any infant who so resident"... Please take note that this type of arrangement contravenes and will be questionable before the destination country, the United Nations Convention and the Malawi Adoption Act'.
Critics of Madonna's attempts to adopt David Banda have argued that it is only her wealth and fame which has allowed her to circumvent Malawi's adoption laws.
Sydney psychologist Vera Auerbach has claimed that celebrities romanticise the process of adopting children from overseas, making it appear easier than what it actually is. Ms Auerbach has stated, 'The average person has to pay $60,000 and wait anywhere from two to five years to adopt a child internationally.' There are those who have claimed that the ease with which celebrities appear to be able to adopt internationally is unfair to those many prospective adoptive parents who would like to be able to do likewise. More significantly, concern has been expressed that bypassing the regulations that normally apply in the adopted child's country of origin may mean that the child's rights are not being suitably protected.
In its open letter to Madonna, 'Eye of the Child' stated, 'The rationale for this general prohibition is that the best interests of the child requires that after a child has been adopted, that child should be within the jurisdiction of the authorities to ensure that the child is accorded the basic services necessary for the child's welfare. This monitoring would be difficult if the adopting parents do not reside within the jurisdiction.'
Madonna would have been able to adopt David Banda had she remained within Malawi for 18 months so that her interaction with him could be monitored by Malawi authorities. Instead, Madonna has been allowed to spend her provisional period with David in Britain.

3. The child will face enormous problems of adjustment
It has been claimed that taking a child from the world s/he knows and attempting to integrate it into a completely foreign world can be extremely difficult. It has been suggested that in addition to the inevitable problems of adjustment, the adopted children may also have been traumatised in their countries of origin.
Sydney psychologist Vera Auerbach has claimed that international celebrity adoptions often pose significant social and emotional for both the adoptive parents and the adopted child.
'It can be really difficult for parents to form a bond with children that have come from third world countries as they are usually pretty traumatised,' Ms Auerbach has stated.
Dr Larry Gray, co-founder of the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, stresses that international adoption is not something to be undertaken lightly.
Dr Gray has stated, 'Families often choose international adoption because they believe it's a speedier process - domestic adoption in the US can take a long time. However, international adoption is not as quick as people think and the children involved can have greater medical and developmental problems than those adopted in the US.
Some are HIV positive or have tuberculosis or other infectious diseases. Many are affected by abuse or the trauma of being separated from their birth parents.'

4. The child is likely to lose his/her cultural identity
Critics of inter-racial adoptions and in particular celebrity inter-racial adoptions are concerned that the children will lose their cultural identity and that this will cause them great distress.
A Korean woman adopted by an American family some twenty years ago has stated, 'White privilege and class privilege have the power to blind some adoptive parents to the point where they reject that the child had a history, a birthright, and a life before they signed on the dotted line. I have to wonder, is there anything more selfish than wrapping a child's adoption up in one's own insecurities instead of committing to the child's welfare? ...
If I could print it up plainly for all to understand on a T-shirt, I'd wear it as a reminder to all adoptive parents that sometimes, there is real, irreparable pain and there are primal wounds inherent in adoption that no privileged upbringing can erase.'
There has been concern expressed that if Madonna is able to finally adopt David Banda he, also will lose his cultural identity and suffer accordingly. Madonna has indicated that David will at least initially be brought up to follow her religious beliefs. She has been reported as saying, 'I believe in Jesus and I study Kabbalah. So, I don't see why he can't too.'

5. The practice may discourage adoptions
Madonna has expressed concern that the negative media attention her adoption of David has attracted may discourage others from attempting international adoptions. Others have suggested that Madonna's attempts may have other negative consequences.
Firstly, it has been suggested, by making overseas adoption seem easy and attractive, Madonna's adoption of David Banda could discourage prospective adoptive couples from same country adoptions. It has been suggested that this would be a very unfortunate consequence for children in Britain or the United States awaiting adoption.
Secondly it has been suggested that if Madonna's attempt to adopt David Banda does encourage other Westerners to consider international adoption then all it is likely to do is lead them into disappointment. Liz Kelly writing in The Washington Post noted, 'So [Madonna's] African adoption may have raised awareness, but will only serve as a false hope to other adoptive parents who will be frustrated in their own attempt to explore adoption in Malawi and will eventually face the more typical, stressful, touch-and-go year or so process more common to international adoption.'

6. Celebrities can assist impoverished nations and children in better ways
There are those who argue that if wealthy celebrities from developed nations wish to assist children living in poverty and disease in other parts of the world they do not need to adopt in order to do so. It is claimed they would use their wealth more effectively if they supported development in these impoverished nations. This would assist far more children and save them the trauma of losing their family connections and culture.
Bashir Goth, a Somali poet, journalist, professional translator and freelance writer whose parents resisted the offer of an American woman to adopt him has been critical of such supposed philanthropy. He has stated, 'with such big hearts and philanthropic feeling to save the children of the world, the celebrities can do a better job and save more children from poverty if they adopt whole villages in Africa and Asia instead of only one or two children.
By providing whole villages with schools, clinics and water wells, we will have thousands of young Zaharas and David Banda owing their welfare and future to celebrities' charity. Africa would reap large revenues as curious visitors throng to see and learn from the Angelina Jolie and Madonna villages. It would make a drastic change to the way we do charity and foreign aid and would embody the epitome of western altruism and philanthropy. The Colombian singer Shakira is already leading the way in this trend and it is a trend that is worth emulating.'

Arguments in favour of celebrity adoptions
1. The children concerned are being offered a better life
It has been claimed that celebrity adoption normally involves children living in extremely poor and precarious circumstances being adopted by people who are able to give them far more secure and materially comfortable lives.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Madonna claimed, 'When I met him [David Banda], he was extremely ill. He had severe pneumonia, and he could hardly breathe. I was in a state of panic, because I didn't want to leave him in the orphanage because I knew they didn't have medication to take care of him. We got permission to take him to a clinic to have a bronchial dilator put on him. ... He had pneumonia and was given an injection of antibiotics. He's still a little bit ill, not completely free of his pneumonia, but he's much better than he was when we found him.'
In the same interview Madonna also explains the information she was given about David Banda by the Minister of Children and Mothers Welfare. She states she was told that his mother had died of HIV and that his three siblings had also died of HIV.
'Here's what I knew,' Madonna claimed to Oprah Winfrey. 'David had been living in this orphanage since he was two weeks old. He had survived malaria and tuberculosis, and no one from his extended family had visited him since the time he arrived. So from my perspective, there was no one looking after David's welfare.'

2. Many celebrities make good parents
It has been argued that many celebrities are unjustly criticised for the nature of their personal lives and further that they are able parents both of their natural children and of any they might adopt.
A spokesperson for the Malawi government has indicated that to this point the government has been very happy with the quality of the care and attention which Madonna and her husband David Ritchie have given David Banda.
The principal secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, Adrina Mchiela, has told the international news agency, Reuters, that the Malawi government is satisfied so far at the way Madonna is looking after David Banda.
Ms Mchiela has stated, 'We have been monitoring her and so far we see a loving mother in Madonna and David is very fine ... the father should not be worried.'
Madonna has claimed that David is well accepted and much loved within her family. On the Oprah Winfrey Show Madonna referred to her two natural children welcoming David Banda into their lives. 'They just embraced him, and that's the amazing thing about children. They don't ask questions. They've never once said, "What is he doing here" or mentioned the difference in his skin colour or questioned his presence in our life."

3. Celebrity adoptive parents are not able to subvert adoption laws
It has been claimed, frequently by the celebrities concerned, that the wealth and fame of prospective adoptive parents do not lead governments and adoption agencies in under-developed nations to relax their regulations.
In relation to Madonna's attempted adoption of David Banda, it has been explained during an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show that proper supervision of the proposed adoption will be applied in Britain. 'Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted an 'interim adoption' by the Malawian government. (The child) will live in their care for an initial 18 months while a London-based social worker will visit them periodically to ensure David is being cared for and not neglected. After the 18 months, Madonna and Guy may then legally adopt David.'
Madonna has claimed that her critics do not really understand how the Malawian adoption process works if they believe she used status to speed up the process of adopting David.
Madonna has stated, 'I assure you it doesn't matter who you are or how much money you have, nothing goes fast in Africa.'
Madonna has defended herself against charges of having subverted adoption laws in Malawi by indicating, 'There are no adoption laws in Malawi. And I was warned by my social worker that because there were no known laws in Malawi, they were more or less going to have to make them up as we went along.'

4. Celebrities are able to heighten awareness of poverty in impoverished nations such as Malawi
There are those who have argued that the attention of the world's media on Madonna's attempted adoption of David Banda can only be a good thing. They claim that any focus on the difficulties Malawi faces may attract the support of other nations and philanthropic organisations. It is also claimed that this media focus may also make the citizens of Malawi more aware of their rights and their problems.
Aid worker, Carsterns Mulume of Caritas Malawi, has stated, 'I am sure the world attention on Malawi is good for the children. There are so many children here who suffer badly. Not just from drought and disease, but from a lack of education, from abuse, and from a culture where too-early marriage and fieldwork is stealing childhood.
Madonna can bring attention to the children of Malawi, to the rights of the children. We don't have the resources to do this advocacy. It is important here for the children to know they have rights. For parents to be educated on how to protect the rights. I am happy that of all the countries in Africa, she is here.'

5. Media critics of celebrity adoption are self-serving and counter-productive
It has been suggested that media criticism of celebrity adoption is self-serving and damaging to the welfare of impoverished children in underdeveloped nations. According to this line of argument, such criticism is intended primarily to attract the attention of viewers and readers. In so doing, however, the concern has been expressed that media outlets may be discouraging well-intentioned people from assisting children in need of help.
In her interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show Madonna stated, 'I understand that gossip and telling negative stories sells newspapers. But I think for me, I'm disappointed because it discourages other people from doing the same thing - for anybody who had the idea that they, too, would like to open their home and give a life to a child living in an orphanage who might possibly not live past the age of five. Anybody who had that idea would be discouraged from doing it. For me, that's what disappoints me the most. I feel like the media is doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa, period, not just Malawi, by turning it into such a negative thing.'

6. Many celebrities combine adoption with humanitarian work
A number of celebrities have not merely adopted children from under-developed countries, they have also contributed large amounts of funds toward improving conditions in the countries from which these children have come.
In 2006, Madonna travelled to Malawi where she began building an orphan care centre with her foundation Raising Malawi. She funds six orphanages through her Raising Malawi charity and is setting up an orphanage for 4,000 children in a village outside the capital, Lilongwe.
Madonna is working with anti-poverty crusader Dr. Jeffrey Sachs who is the founder of the Millennium Villages project which has already enlisted the help of U2 singer Bono and Angelina Jolie.
The Millennium Villages project's aim is to make villages self-sufficient through such basic necessities as schools, farming and drinking water.
As part of her Raising Malawi project, Madonna will help to finance a documentary about the plight of Malawian orphans and work to improve the health, agriculture and economy in the country.
Madonna founded Raising Malawi with Kabbalah Center founder Michael Berg and has already met with former United States president Bill Clinton to see if they can bring low-cost medicines to the area.
Other celebrities who have adopted children from impoverished nations have also performed more general humanitarian work. Perhaps the most famous of these is Angelina Jolie who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She has toured refugee operations in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya, Cambodia, Thailand, and Pakistan and Ecuador and has drawn attention to the horrendous living conditions of the nearly 35 million refugees in these operations. Ms Jolie has also worked actively to reduce the use of landmines.

Further implications
It has been speculated that Madonna's attempted adoption of David Banda will have both desirable and undesirable consequences.
On the one hand the attention directed toward Malawi may lead to that impoverished nation receiving more international assistance. However, to date, the most obvious instance of assistance is the $4 million Madonna has donated toward the establishment and maintenance of orphanages in that country.
It has further been speculated that Madonna's adoption experience will either prompt or discourage international adoption. Which of these outcomes would be desirable depends entirely on the attitude one takes toward international adoption in general and celebrity adoption in particular. It has been noted that after the scandal that occurred when Angelina Jolie adopted her Cambodian son, the Cambodian authorities dramatically restricted the scope for international adoptions from their country. It remains to be seen what will happen in Malawi. This is a country which already has a prohibition against international adoption yet it allowed Madonna to remove one of its citizens to Britain. Whether it will subsequently tighten or relax its regulation governing international adoption remains to be seen.
What will be the fate of David Banda is impossible to know at this point. His chances of surviving to adulthood will have been dramatically improved if he remains in Madonna's care. Whether he comes to regret his removal from his country of birth, as some international adoptees clearly do, remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether Madonna will be true to her word and allow the child access at a later point to his country, his relatives and his culture.

Newspaper items used in the compilation of this issue outline
The Australian, October 7, page 13, news item, `Madonna adopts secrecy on Malawian baby reports'.
The Australian, October 18, page 9, news item, `Madonna's new son jets to life of luxury'.
The Australian, October 27, page 12, news item, `Madonna adopts defensive stance, saying "See Africa for yourselves"'.

The Age, October 6, page 9, news item, `Madonna denies African adoption'.
The Age, October 7, page 22, news item, `Adoption talk immaterial for mother Madonna'.
The Age, October 14, page 17, news item, `Davie trades orphanage for life with Madonna'.
The Age, October 16, page 13, comment by Jo Chandler, `People who need help, any help'.
The Age, October 16, page 9, news item, `Malawi may halt pop star adoption'.
The Age, October 18, page 10, news item , `Pop star's Malawi child in Britain'.
The Age, October 19, page 16, editorial, `Madonna and child: the rewards of celebrity'.
The Age, October 19, page 15, news item by Rochelle Mutton, `Unrepentant Madonna may adopt another child'.
The Age, October 21, Insight section, page 9, comment by Tracee Hutchison, `Madonna has done some real good'.
The Age, October 21, Insight section, page 3, analysis by Kenneth Nguyen, `Madonna's immaculate conception'.
The Age, October 21, Insight section, page 3, analysis by Larissa Dubecki, `Who's that boy'.
The Age, October 26, page 11, news item, `Madonna blames media for scandalising African adoption'.
The Age, October 27, page 1, news item, `Father says he can't look after son'.

The Herald-Sun, October 29, page 40, analysis by David Jones, Natalie Clarke, `I want to bring my orphaned niece over from Malawi ... but, of course, my name is not Madonna'.
The Herald-Sun, October 29, page 78, cartoon.
The Herald-Sun, October 19, page 9, news item, `Madonna and child - I did nothing wrong'.
The Herald-Sun, October 18, page 23, comment by Andrew Bolt, `Papa, don't preach'.

Using google to find newspaper items still available on the Web
Use your mouse to copy a newspaper headline (just the headline, not the entire entry as it appears in the sources) and paste it into the google search box below. Click search to see if the item is still accessible.

Google