Madonna says adoption was fully legal

updated 10:16 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2006

LONDON - Madonna forcefully defended her adoption of a 1-year-old Malawian boy after he arrived by plane in London on Tuesday, as the pop star rejected criticism of her decision to offer the infant a home and insisted she acted according to the law.

Responding for the first time to the protests, Madonna said she hopes to make the adoption of David Banda permanent following an 18-month evaluation period imposed by Malawi authorities.

“We have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law, like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate,” Madonna said in a statement, issued via e-mail after David joined her at her London mansion.

Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s New York-based publicist, said her client was referring to laws which applied in both Malawi and Britain.

Madonna said she and her husband began the adoption process “many months prior to our trip to Malawi,” but she had not disclosed their intentions because she wished to keep the matter private. As child-protection groups challenged Madonna’s custody order, photographers swarmed outside the singer’s home and bloggers and editorial-writers weighed in, that appeared a vain hope.

“After learning that there were over 1 million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family,” Madonna said.

“This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly,” she added.

David, who has spent most of his life in an orphanage in poverty-stricken Malawi, arrived before dawn at Heathrow Airport aboard a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. He was bundled into a waiting Mercedes minivan in the arms of an aide, surrounded by airport officials and armed police officers.

Quite a scene
Photographers, reporters and camera crews clustered in the street as the van arrived at the brick Victorian town house near London’s Hyde Park that Madonna, 48, shares with her husband — the director Guy Ritchie — daughter Lourdes, 9, and son Rocco, 6. Madonna also has a house in the English countryside and a home in Los Angeles.

AP A woman believed to be a nanny carries the baby Madonna wants to adopt through London's Heathrow airport with a police escort early Tuesday.

Rosenberg confirmed that Madonna intended the child to live at her permanent home in London, but said the infant would likely need a visa for occasions when the family spends time in the U.S.

Last week, Malawi’s High Court granted Madonna and Ritchie an interim adoption order giving them custody of the boy for 18 months. Rosenberg said that during that time, the couple would be “evaluated by the courts of Malawi per the tribal customs of the country.”

The order waived a Malawian law requiring would-be parents to live in the country for a year while social welfare officers investigate their ability to care for a child.

Human rights and child protection groups were challenging the custody order in court in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. They said they wanted to ensure that child-protection regulations were not swept aside to benefit a singer who has been generous to Malawi.

NBC VIDEO Is adoption easier for celebs? Oct. 17: The one-year-old African boy pop star Madonna wants to adopt arrived in London this morning. But, some authorities back in Malawi say she bent the rules to get him. NBC's John Larson reports on celebrity adoptions. Today show

Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, is setting up an orphanage for up to 4,000 children, and the singer has said she wants to raise at least $3 million for programs to support AIDS orphans.

Madonna said in the statement she had been “overwhelmed and inspired” by her trip to Malawi and hoped it would help focus attention on the needs of children in Africa.

“From poverty to easy street” said a headline in The Times newspaper — but others painted a more troubled picture of young David’s journey.

MORE FROM CELEBRITIES

Celebrities Section Front

Kate Gosselin to attend Calif. women’s forum Lawyers spar in Hilton film contract dispute Radcliffe prefers dating women his age now ‘Harry Potter’ actor charged with growing pot 'Slumdog' child star moves into new home ‘Idol’ judge Kara DioGuardi weds in Maine Joyce DeWitt cited for drunken driving New theft charges for Dane Cook’s half brother Kal Penn starts job as White House liaison Access Hollywood section Celebrities Section Front   Add Celebrities headlines to your news reader: