Madonna - I have gone about the adoption procedure 'like anyone else'

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Madonna denies flouting UK laws

Madonna has defended her controversial decision to adopt an African baby boy in a rare public statement.

The superstar insisted she had not flouted UK laws to bring David Banda into Britain but had gone about the procedure 'like anyone else'.

The singer, who is said to have been hurt by the backlash against her, added that she simply wanted to 'help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death.'

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Madonna answered her critics as her friend, chatshow host Rosie O'Donnell, revealed she had gone through the procedures allowing her to adopt abroad in her native America - where the process is considerably quicker than Britain and the rules over a white couple adopting a child from an ethnic background are less stringent.

Speaking on American television Miss O'Donnell said: 'When someone like Madonna wants to adopt and she is a citizen in the US she has to get adoption home study, she has to get fingerprinted and she has to get cleared. She did all of that'.

David Banda, the 13-month-old baby that Madonna hopes will soon become a permanent member of her family, arrived at Heathrow on Tuesday morning to extraordinary scenes.

Covered in a grey adult hooded top, he was surrounded by photographers as he was carried out of the airport via a private exit surrounded by bodyguards, an armed policeman and two British Airways staff.

The 13-month-old was not met by Madonna but instead was put into a waiting silver Mercedes and driven to her £6 million home in Marylebone.

He arrived there at 6.45am, but five hours later it was business as usual for his prospective new mother who headed off to her gym for a two hour work out.

Madonna and her husband Guy are thought to have undergone assessment allowing them to adopt David in the US where a fast-track system, which takes just two to four months to approve, is in place.

In Britain the system is much more rigorous.

The 2002 Adoption Act, which was brought in following the scandal surrounding Alan and Judith Kilshaw who adopted twin girls over the internet, means would-be parents face a wait of six months to a year, when they are rigorously vetted their relationship placed under the microscope.

Those who do not adhere to the rules face up to 12 months in prison as well as a hefty fine.

Race rules operated by British social workers are also strict and firmly discourage inter-racial adoption, which is regarded as damaging to the self-esteem of an ethnic minority child.

Many couples and children have been refused adoption because a racial match cannot be made, and adoption agencies advertising children for adoption habitually specify precise racial requirements of potential adoptive parents.

The singer's spokespeople refused to comment on whether she was adopting through the UK or her home country of America, where she has properties in New York and Los Angeles.

But Miss O'Donnell insisted that Madonna and her 38-year-old film director husband had been checked out by the FBI and had been planning the adoption long before they travelled to Malawi.

Madonna's statement, in which she spoke of her 'joy' at being reunited with David, comes after a backlash in Malawi, where she has been accused of effectively 'buying a baby'.

Madonna and her husband flew to the impoverished African country, which rarely allows its children to be adopted abroad, two weeks ago.

She fell in love with David after playing with him at the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinji.

He was placed there by his father Yohane, after his mother died while giving birth to him.

Madonna was granted an interim order last week allowing her to take the child home for a year while the adoption process continues.

However there was immediate condemnation from children's charities, aid groups and church organisations, who accused claimed the judges decision broke Malawian regulations.

They say foreigners wishing to adopt must be resident in the country for 18 months so they can be properly assessed.

They are planning a legal challenge opposing the fast-tracking of the adoption but were furious when the singer had David flown out of the country before they could begin the process.

Last night they accused Madonna of having the Malawian government in her pay.

'If the officials who go to London are kept in luxury and taken to first class restaurants by Madonna how can they possibly be objective?' said Boniface Mandere, advocate and research officer for the Eye of the Child charity.'

And an editorial in The Daily Times of Malawi said the country should not be scared of upsetting the singer.

"We know Madonna has promised a lot for the country's orphans and the thinking could be that if we ask her to follow rigorous procedures of adoption she may give up, but this should not be our worry.

"Madonna actually will respect us more if we show that our poverty is not extended to the brain."

Legal steps are being planned to have baby David returned to Malawi.

The Human Rights Consultative Committee - representing the groups - said earlier this week it would go to court to overturn the interim order allowing the 48-year-old singer to bring David to Britain.

Last night, however, there were suggestions that the HRCC has been advised it does not have the funding to mount such an action. A statement is expected on Wednesday.

Madonna is believed to have told her lawyers they have an 'open chequebook' to fight any court action.

Madonna has been accused of 'buying' David after donating millions of dollars to Malawian orphanages.

According to Pofera Banda, a cousin of Johane Banda, David's father, the full implication of the adoption was not made clear to the family.

'People here were not told clearly whether Madonna wants to just educate the child and bring him back or whether she has taken him for good. They do not know he is now her son.'

 

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