PeopleBeing a single mom isn't keeping
Madonna from expanding her family.
The singer, 50, is heading to Malawi where she is planning to adopt a child, according to officials in that country. "We are expecting her this weekend," an official from the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, which is responsible for adoption in the African nation, tells PEOPLE.
The official says that Raising Malawi, the charity the singer established there, filed adoption papers for a baby girl, whose identity has not been revealed.
"All is set for the adoption; all the paperwork is ready," he says.
Madonna is expected to appear in the High Court in the capital of Lilongwe next week to start the process for the second adoption. The singer's rep had no comment.
Madonna recently
told Malawi's Nation newspaper that she wants a sister for her son David, 3, whom
she adopted from the country. "Many people – especially our Malawian friends – say that David should have a Malawian brother or sister," she told the paper in a rare interview. "It's something I have been considering, but would only do if I had the support of the Malawian people and government."
David's father, Yohane Banda, tells PEOPLE that officials from Raising Malawi visited him last week to alert him to Madonna's impending arrival. "I was told anytime Madonna is coming with my son and her other children," said the soft-spoken tomato and onions farmer in a telephone interview. "They didn't give me dates but they just said 'soon.' "
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Madonna is finally due to
adopt the little girl she has wanted for nearly two years when she flies into Malawi this weekend.
Four-year-old Mercy James was taken to a luxury lodge outside Lilongwe earlier this week, in preparation for being united with the singer, according to sources.
Madonna, 50, is expected to stay in the south-east African country for a week before flying out with Mercy - bar any last-minute hitches.
The girl is being cared for by a nanny at Kumbali Lodge - where Madonna has stayed on her previous visits to the country. She had been living at an orphanage near Blantyre, in the south of Malawi.
Madonna had hoped to keep the fact that the child is already at the lodge a secret until leaving the country.
'Mercy has been handed over to Madonna's people, who are already at the lodge, and is being cared for by a nanny,' says the source.
'They are waiting for Madonna to arrive so mother and daughter can be united and then Madonna is expected to take Mercy with her when she leaves.'
Madonna is expected to bring three-year-old David Banda - whom she adopted in Malawi in 2006 - with her to meet his new sister. The Lodge has been booked out from March 26 to April 4.
On Monday, the singer is expected to attend a court hearing in Lilongwe to formalise the adoption after having reportedly filed adoption papers.
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Us Magazine
Officials have confirmed Madonna is adopting a 3-year-old girl, Mercy James, from Malawi.
"The adoption is going ahead," Malawi's Director of Child Welfare Services, Penstone Kilembe, tells: "It has been at an advanced stage for some time."
Mercy will be Madonna's fourth child, and second child from the African country. David Banda, 3, was adopted in 2006.
The girl is from the "Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. She has no father and mother, they both died...We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week," an official at the ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters.
