Madonna speaks about adoption

She believes birth father is being 'terrorised' by the media

Madonna appeared on ‘Oprah’ last night (October 25) to respond to press reports surrounding her recent adoption of baby David Banda.

Speaking via satellite from London, the singer denied reports that she had adopted the baby against the will of the baby’s father.

She said: “The Minister of Children and Mother’s Welfare went and found his father and asked him permission and told him exactly what he wanted to do, and he agreed to it orally but we also had to get his written consent.

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“He had to be brought to court and he came into the courtroom with my husband and I, and we had a hearing all together.

“He looked into my eyes and said to me that he was very grateful that I was going to give his son a life and that had he kept his son with him in the village, he would have buried him.

“I didn’t really need any more confirmation that I was doing the right thing and that I had his blessing.”

Madonna believes the father was being hounded by the press.

“I believe,” she said, “that at this point in time that he is being terrorised by the media that they have asked him things repeatedly, that they have put words in his mouth and that they have spun a story that is completely false.

“They have spun things out of control and brought nothing by chaos to his life. I do think his first reaction is the true reaction and that is thank you for giving my son a life.”

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She also denied that she used her status and wealth to speed up the process.

She insisted: “If only my wealth and my position could have made things go faster! I assure you no matter who you are or how much money you have, nothing goes fast in Africa.”

Madonna revealed that she was drawn to the baby, having seen footage of him that was filmed for a documentary she is financing.

She told Oprah: “I became transfixed by him and I later on asked who he was and what his name was and I started getting information about him. But still it wasn’t in my head that I was going to adopt him, I was just drawn to him.”

Madonna also told how she was advised against adopting a baby from Malawi.

She said: “I was warned by the social worker who I did my home study with that, because there were no known laws in Malawi, that they were more or less going to have to make them up as we went along and she said: ‘Pick Ethiopia, go to Kenya, don’t go to Malawi because you’re just going to get a hard time.’”

Madonna revealed that she and husband Guy Ritchie have what is called an ‘interim adoption’ in which social workers will visit David in the next 18 months to ensure he is being properly cared for, after which time Madonna and her husband will legally adopt the boy.

In a further twist, Reuters reports that the child’s father told the singer to keep custody of the child.

Yohane Banda said: ”When we gave the child to Madonna we gave away the child just like the orphanage would have done…to raise the child and educate the child. We never wished that the child should come back. What we are saying is that the child should not come back.”

“My message to Madonna is that she should not be discouraged, be strong,” he added.

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