Madonna has reportedly been giving the go ahead to adopt a second orphan from Malawi, even though she is still going through the legal process to finalise the adoption of her first child from the country.

According to the Sun, Madonna is planning to adopt a baby girl from the country next April. The singer met the girl, called Mercy, at the Kondanani Orphan Care Centre when she visited the country earlier in the year and while she has now been told that she can adopt the child, she has asked her lawyer to “cover all the legal bases” before they file the formal papers next February.

A close source told the newspaper: “Madonna’s over the moon that she’s been told she can take Mercy. She didn’t want another complicated adoption.”

“Mercy is a beautiful baby girl. She’s so joyful and happy and giggles every time she’s picked up. Madonna just loves the way she claps her hands and laughs constantly. She has huge, dancing eyes. Madonna calls her her smiling angel.”

Like son David, Mercy is said to have some family, including an aunt, but was handed over to the orphanage because they were too poor to care for the little girl. Madonna is said to have initially wanted to adopt another baby girl, Grace, but her extended family objected.

Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie caused controversy when they adopted son David from the sub-Saharan country last year and were at risk of losing him again after the adoption process hit a snag earlier in the summer.

The assigned government official, Penstone Kilembe, was suddenly removed from the case just days before he was due to fly to London to carry out the “home-study” section of the adoption after reportedly taking money and an air ticket from the family. Kilembe now insists that it was just a “misunderstanding [which] has now been resolved” and he will visit the couple’s London home for two weeks from next Tuesday.