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Madonna baby delivered to her home
Last updated at 14:29pm on 17.10.06
Madonna's baby arrives at Heathrow
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Madonna welcomed a tiny African boy she wants to adopt into her UK home today.
At just 13 months old, David Banda left his orphanage life in poverty-stricken Malawi and arrived at London's Heathrow airport this morning.
He was taken to the singer's luxury home near Marble Arch in the capital and kept away from the hordes of waiting photographers and reporters.
Madonna, 48, and her husband Guy Ritchie have secured a temporary 18-month custody order from the Malawi courts and hope to adopt him formally.
It is thought the baby arrived in the UK with a US visa stamped in his new passport, sparking speculation that he would be adopted under US law.
Adoption experts said the celebrity couple would have undergone rigorous checks before being given permission to adopt the boy.
But there has been a backlash in Malawi, with human rights groups going to court to question the apparently speedy decision about David's future.
In the capital Lilongwe, it was claimed that the courts had improperly waived Malawian laws to allow Madonna and Ritchie temporary custody because of their celebrity.
Justin Dzonzi, a lawyer for a coalition of human rights and child advocacy organisations, said his group was asking a judge to review the adoption.
Other organisations said they wanted to ensure child protection regulations were not swept aside to benefit a singer who has been generous to Malawi.
Two months ago the pop superstar announced she was to donate three million dollars to the country through the Raising Malawi charity.
Her partner in the project is Michael Berg, founder of the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles.
Boniface Mandere, of Eye Of The Child, a local child protection society involved in the challenge, said: "The court seems to have made a decision based on Madonna's wealth.
"But being a good parent is not about money - it is about caring, having heart, it's about love."
The furore began last week with pictures of Madonna and Ritchie visiting orphanages in Malawi and news that temporary custody of David had been granted.
Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said the couple left the country last Friday: "It is expected that the family will be reunited within the next few days.
"The interim adoption grants David's new parents temporary custody for 18 months, during which time they will be evaluated by the courts of Malawi per the tribal customs of the country."
David's journey to the UK started when he was put on a private jet from Malawi to South Africa after a court issued the travel documents.
Today, he was rushed through the airport by Madonna's aides - including a nanny and a bodyguard - with his head covered after an overnight flight from Johannesburg.
The child, who Madonna wants to be a brother to her children, Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, five, wore denim shorts, a white T-shirt and a baseball cap.
Arriving at the singer's quiet, tree-lined street, with its rows of elegant period terraces, the road was filled with dozens of photographers, journalists and camera crews.
As the media attention continued throughout the day, publicist Max Clifford called on Madonna to convince the British public she had done the right thing bringing David to the UK.
"It's important Madonna and Guy, in the short term, convince people that what they've done is right and that the way they've gone about it is right - that they haven't cheated or taken advantage (of the system)."
Asked whether a wealthy celebrity should be allowed to adopt an African child and if she had influenced the process by donating the money, Mr Clifford said: "Maybe that's the case but lots of children are going to benefit, so is that such a bad thing?
"All that matters is the future happiness of baby David and if he's going to have a happy life.
"A lot of people have doubts and suspicions - they've got to prove those doubters wrong."
Malawi law requires would-be parents to live in the country for a year while social welfare officers investigate their ability to care for the child.
The court order waived such a stipulation but said David must be returned to Malawi if Madonna was seen to be treating him differently from her other children.
Half a million children in the country have been orphaned by Aids.
Yet David is not an orphan - his father gave him up because he was unable to care for him after David's mother died a week after his birth.
Peasant farmer Yohane Banda took the baby to an orphanage to be cared for when he became sick at five weeks old. He had already lost his first two children to malaria.
David's picture is believed to be among 12 emailed to Madonna from the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in Mchinji.
Orphanage director the Rev Thompson Chipeta told Mr Banda "a very nice Christian lady" wanted to offer David a home.
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