Last thing we heard, Madonna--who, by the way, ya'll, is now officially FIFTY!--was primed and ready to adopt another child. Rumor had it the child would be a little girl from Malawi, from where Madonna adopted her third child, David. As the rumor went, the little girl's name was Mercy, she was two years old and her family didn't want Madge to adopt her.

Now that the rumor mills are in full spin mode--other rumors circulated that the would-be adoption ws causing the alleged turmoil in the Material Mom's marriage to filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie--Madonna's rep is negating the whole thing. That's what they get paid for, right? Deny, deny, deny.

Liz Rosenberg, Madonna's mouthpiece, insists the rumors are not true. Instead, she says, Madge is headed on tour in a week. Not that a busy schedule ever stopped a female celebrity from giving birth or adopting! Tell that to Angelina Jolie, Liz!

(Click the photo to see the 10 Dumbest Laws in America)

For one thirteen-day-old baby, life is turning out to be no cake walk. A newborn brought into the world nearly two weeks ago by native Indian Priti Patel, who served as a surrogate mother, is stuck in India. Her would-be parents, Ikufumi Yamada and Yuki Yamada, divorced right before she was born.

Yuki no longer wants to adopt the child, but Ikufumi does. According to Indian law, however, children may not be adopted by single men. As a result, the newborn is living in India with Ikufumi 's mother, who is staying on to care for the newborn. The baby has yet to be adopted. Since she has no adoption papers, she cannot be issued a passport. And, because she can't get a passport, she can't leave the country.

%Gallery-29009%

Patel has also left the scene after serving as the surrogate. She is part of a process known as commercial surrogacy wherein couples who cannot have a child on their own provide the sperm and eggs to a surrogate mother, who carries the child to term and then is paid a fee for her services. The couple then generally adopt their child and are on their merry way. Not so much for the twelve-day-old, who at this point I don't think even has a name! What a sad state things are in when a little technical legality keeps a man from legitimately adopting his own child!

Pic by ayahthetiger.

View Poll

In a recent New York Times article, the pain associated with not being able to have a child is likened to that of a back ache--dull, aching, and never quite goes away. For some women, the miracle of child birth and the joy of raising a child will always be unattainable--because of infertility, because of timing or age, or for unknown reasons.

Some of these women (and their partners) adopt. Some, like Pamela Mahoney, who was interviewed for the article, make the tough decision to move on. Many of them do this after countless hours and thousands of dollars spent on treatments, analysis and IVF. They decide to remain childless.

The question that keeps ringing in the back of my head is why not adopt? There are so many children out there who need loving homes, the kind that surely these couples would be able to offer. As one woman commented in the article, adoption isn't an easy answer. She'd seen the struggles of her friends who went through the adoption process. I've seen it to--some meet with success, others not so much. It's just as heartbreaking.

Many couples view not being able to have a child as they would any other loss. And they grieve. According to the experts, they are right to do so. Pamela Mahoney started a website to help herself and others in the same situation. She created www.coming2terms.com, where she talks about things like making the decision to stop fertility treatments and dealing with ever-curious friends and family--some of whom will never accept they will not be grandparents.

I haven't checked out the website myself, and I can't say whether or not it would be a good resource, but I can certainly appreciate the courage and compassion it takes to put yourself and your feelings out there for the benefit of others. Perhaps you know someone who might be interested in this resource, or perhaps you might choose to visit yourself. Either way, and agree with her or not, Pamela Mahoney is sharing her experience to help herself and others.

Willie Garson, the accomplished actor best know for playing Carrie Bradshaw's gay sidekick Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City, is having a momentous year. In its opening weekend, the SATC movie pummeled the competition (including box-office darling Indian Jones) to be the #1 movie of that week.

But Garson has something more exciting than professional success. He recently revealed that the adoption paperwork is nearly finished for him to become the father of a boy from Los Angeles county.

Becoming a parent is a life-changing but the single actor has an impressive resume of experience with kids. According to his bio on the HBO website, he is active with the national not-for-profit organization Big Brothers and has helped run Young Artists United, a nationwide group aimed at communication and problem-solving among teens. Garson also reads to first graders weekly through the Screen Actors' Guild Bookpals program.

When asked if he'd allow his son to hang out with other celebrity offspring, Garson sounds like he's got the "Proud Papa" part mastered as well.

"If I like their kids," he jokes, adding, "My kid's going to be the coolest!"

Awwww, in addition to being the coolest I'd say that kid is also one of the luckiest.

%Gallery-24173%

When Teleflora ran a mother's contest that categorized adoptive mothers as "Non-Moms" it incited a justifiable outrage. Of course, adoptive mothers are mothers!

Now it's Madonna, adoptive mother of David Banda, who is raising eyebrows with a statement she made regarding her adoption proceedings.

"It was painful, and it was a big struggle, and I didn't understand it," the singer/dancer/actress and mother of three told reporters in Canne.

Hold it right there, Ms. Material Girl. While I whole-heartedly support the rights of all adoptive parents, comparing an adoption where you broke the (admittedly stupid) rules (International Mulawi adoptions require adoptive parents to reside in Mulawi for at least 18 months for observation. Madonna did not.) and where the biological father admitted he didn't understand what "adoption" meant to childbirth is insulting to not only everyone who HAS jumped through the international adoption hoops as to every woman who has ever actual experienced the pain of birthing a child.

While I'm sure it was it hurtful to see the less-than-glowing-reports about this particular adoption, but the fact remains that it did NOT require an epidural.

%Gallery-23784%

When considering adoption, how much thought or emphasis is placed on race? Well, that may have very much to do with the family planning on doing the adopting. To the adoption agencies who are supposed to be color blind because of a federal law, however, things may be about to change. A recent report on the subject, however, claims that downplaying race during adoption--as these agencies are instructed to do--ultimately underserves the children being adopted.

The report studied a decade of material concerning children of color adopted into white households. Among the findings were that white parents were not prepared for future challenges of raising a child of a different race, and that both social workers and state agencies were afraid to even bring up the subject of race with prospective adoptive parents.

The report is strongly suggesting the federal law, known as the Multiethnic Placement Act, be changed to allow agencies receiving federal funding to consider race and culture when choosing parents for foster care. According to one interviewee, Shannon Gibney--who seems to have put it best--"...you can't just say we're all human or love will be enough." The downside of letting race play a role in adoption? In the eyes and experience of some, foster children wait longer for adoption. This is sure to be a controversial topic setting the Internet from abuzz to aflame. Your thoughts? Especially if you've adopted a child of a different race or culture, I'd love to hear about your experience. Is the law a help or a hindrance--or does it even matter?

Ah, the rumor mill--how it spins. Sources--and by sources, I mean our pal Perez Hilton, are starting to rumble that Madge, the Material Mom, is keen to add to her brood.

If any of this is to be believed, and it's hard to imagine given all the grief Madonna has faced over adopting her soon-to-be son David from Malawi, then she of the blond ambition is poised to adopt again. Her adoption of David is not yet complete, however, so I doubt she'll be entering those waters before leaving those she's waist deep in now.

Sources are saying Madge is looking to even out the testosterone by adopting a girl, this time from India. Madge is already mom to Lourdes, and Rocco as well as little David

A Florida woman is under lock and key for faking her pregnancy. The twenty-four year-old was supposed to be surrogating a child, and had collected nearly $6,000 for rent, medical bills and other assistance from two adoption agencies in other counties.

Shawanda Butler was found out after representatives from the Little Angels of America visited her home. She refused to show them her stomach and instead retreated to the bedroom where she allegedly stuffed her shirt with a pillow.

Butler is now facing fraud charges for allegedly faking her pregnancy to collect money from the adoption agencies.

Part of me wants to wave my fist at the injustices that we read about every day. Part of me just bats an eyelash knowing there's so much worse out there.

Critically acclaimed actress Emma Thompson has waged a legal battle to keep her adopted son from being deported. She and her husband, Greg Wise, "informally" adopted twenty-one year-old Tindyebwa Agaba, a Rwandan refugee, after meeting him at a Refugee Council party several years ago.

Now the British government may be sending Tindyebwa back to Rwanda. According to the government he has no legal right to stay in the U.K. Agaba was orphaned after his family was reportedly killed in 1994. Agaba was allowed to stay in the U.K. for five years as an asylum seeker.

I'm not sure what it means to informally adopt someone and if a more formal adoption process would have given Emma, her family and her son more rights for him to stay in the country. Agaba has been in the U.K. since 2003 and is now attending Exeter. It seems a shame that he should have to go back to Rwanda if he is happy with his family here.

According to a recent interview, Gwyneth Paltrow would like to adopt! Like many celebrities before her, including her Madgesty Madonna, Gwynnie is considering a blended family with hubbie Chris Martin of Coldplay fame. Only unlike many celebs of late, she's looking in to adopting a local, homegrown babe.

Says Paltrow, " We might get one from Brooklyn. No baby is more helpless than another baby. And I'm a New York Girl." I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the "helpless" comment, but I am happy to hear of anyone adopting a baby from any area.

I've long considered adoption and have always desired to have a blended family of my own. It didn't occur to me, until Ms. Paltrow brought it to my attention, that the possibility existed of adopting a child from my adopted hometown of Brooklyn.

Good luck to Gwyneth if indeed she is planning on adopting, wherever the child may be from. I would strangely feel a sense of pride if she did adopt from Brooklyn. But then again, I'm biased--I think the best of pretty much everything can be found in Brooklyn, and that includes babies!