The 58-year-old singer recalled the emotional three-and-a-half years it took for her to win the right to adopt the tot from Malawi, after successfully taking on the care of her son David in 2006, as she was initially told it wouldnโt be possible as she had recently divorced film director Guy Ritchie.
Speaking at the opening of The Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi โ the first facility of its kind in the country โ on Tuesday (11.07.17), she recalled: โI met Mercy soon after I met my son David, but they were living in different orphanages. David was in Mchinji in Home of Hope, and Mercy was here in Blantyre at Kondanani. Mercy was suffering from malaria, and David from pneumonia. And when I held each of them in my arms, I whispered in their ears, that I would look after them. And I promised them that they would grow up into strong and healthy adults.
โI was granted permission to adopt David first. And some time later, I filed a petition to adopt Mercy. But this time, the judge who was presiding said no. I was recently divorced, and she informed me, as a divorced woman, I was not fit to raise children and that Mercy James was better off growing up in an orphanage.โ
As well as her split from Guy, Madonna had also defied Malawian law which requires would-be parents to live in the country for a year before adopting, but she refused to take no for an answer and hired a โteamโ of lawyers to keep arguing her case.
She continued: โIf you know me, you can imagine how I received this information. Itโs true, I am a freedom fighter. I am a feminist. I am a rebel heart. But I am also a compassionate and intelligent human being. And if you cannot give me a logical reason for the word โno,โ then I will not accept the word โno.โ I hired a team of lawyers, and I took my case to the supreme court, and it was not an easy battle.
โThe adoption laws in Malawi had not been reformed since the early โ40s, and it had not occurred to anyone to change them yet. So my argument was that women have been raising children for centuries, on their own โฆ not to mention the fact that I was doing just fine raising my own three children.โ
The โHung Upโ singer urged people not to โstop fightingโ for their beliefs, to follow their dreams and to always persevere.
She added: โI never gave up. And I never backed down. And I believe that if you want something badly enough in life, the universe will conspire to help you get it. It may not be exactly when you want it, it may not come exactly when you think itโs gonna come. It may not come in the package that you want it. But if you persevere, you will win.
โI fought for Mercy, and I won. It wasnโt easy. And with the blood, sweat, and tears of so many people here today, we fought for this hospitalโand we won. So Iโm here to say: never, ever give up on your dreams. Never stop fighting for what you believe in. And finally: Love conquers all.โ
After Madonnaโs touching speech, Mercy herself gave a short speech in which she praised her mother as โthe bombโ.
The โHolidayโ hitmaker was joined at the opening of the surgery by her five youngest children, Rocco, 16, David, 11, Mercy, and four-year-old twins Stella and Esther.
Madonna โ who also has daughter Lourdes, 20 โ helped fund the building through her charity Raising Malawi, which was founded in 2006.
