What Madonna wants, Madonna gets. But at what price?

Madonna's recent adoption of a child from an orphanage in Malawi has drawn criticism from activists because it is illegal for foreign nationals to adopt a Malawi child. However, Madonna's been granted a special waiver to circumvent the law.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's great that Madonna wants to give a child from a third-world country a better life, but does the fact that she's a celebrity make her above the law? And what about the 14,000 or so children put up for adoption every year in this country alone? Wouldn't it make more sense to adopt a kid from here? To me, there's also something a bit unsettling about a celebrity "shopping around" at orphanages around the world to find a kid to adopt, like it's a puppy at the pound or something.

And since when did international adoptions become in vogue? (Pun intended.)

I guess we have Mia Farrow to thank, and most recently, Angelina Jolie. But somehow, their work at the U.N. makes their international adoptions make some kind of sense. But Madonna? What has she done that hasn't seemed ... trendy?