Madonna’s 12-year-old daughter has been left heartbroken after her famous was banned from adopting a 3-year-old girl from the African nation of Malawi.

Lourdes Leon successfully bonded with little Mercy James, who she believed would become her new baby sister, during the family’s trip to Malawi last week. The preteen even designed a nursery for the toddler.

“Madonna spent some time with Mercy; she looked sad. But Lourdes, who had clicked with the little girl, looked devastated,” a staffer at the Kumbali Lodge where Madonna had been staying, told PEOPLE Magazine on Sunday.