Daily Skiff

Babies, babies everywhere - and none are left alone from the public eye.

From the controversy surrounding Nadya Suleman's motherhood of her 14 children to the public scrutiny of Madonna's questionable adoption methods in Malawi - it seems that babies are often in the news. It is not that the public scrutinizes the children so much as it examines and sometimes vilifies the mothers.

It seems like every other magazine on the shelves has a picture of Angelina Jolie holding one of her three children, with Brad Pitt in the corner.

Suleman's face appears at least twice a week on television shows, arms filled with babies.

We never know what the next fad in Hollywood will be. One year ago, we had Britney Spears' mental train wreck and today we are dealing with Joaquin Phoenix trying to get in touch with his hip hop side. Though, to be honest, I'm not entirely convinced that Spears won't end up adopting a child later down the line. During late 2007, media across the country attributed a "close friend" as saying she was looking to adopt 6-year-old twins from China.

A recent TMZ entertainment story about Madonna's adoption of David from Malawi showed the superstar comfortably holding her adopted son's hand.

The accusations that Madonna used her fame and money to work over the legal system are hypocritical, to say the least. Celebrities have used their fame and fortune for much worse than adopting a child from a Third World country, and I think we should remember that before pointing fingers.

Motherhood has become such a dominant co-star in the real lives of celebrities, and maybe the attention it grabs is not entirely superficial. I don't think these celebrities mind the spotlight, but that doesn't seem to be their motivation.

As long as celebrity moms are going to love their adopted children and provide for them, we should leave them alone.

Ashley Tambunga is a junior English major from Fort Worth.

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