Madonna has lost her bid to adopt a second Malawian orphan, the BBC has learned.

A judge has rejected Madonna’s request to adopt a second child from the South African nation because of a requirement that demands prospective parents be a resident in the country for 18 to 24 months, a judge and lawyer said Friday.

The residency rule was waived in 2006, when the 50-year-old pop star was allowed to take her adopted son, David, to London before his adoption was finalized in 2008.

According to reports in the Malawian capital Lilongwe, Madonna’s lawyer went into the court alone to be told the news that the application for interim adoption had been turned down, meaning 3-year-old Mercy James will have to stay in the country–for now.

“I must have to decline to grant the application to Madonna,” judge Esmie Chondo said in a ruling following a closed-door hearing on Friday.

Madonna can appeal the ruling to Malawi’s Supreme Court.

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