Madonna said she would not rule out adopting another child but first wanted to spend time with her new baby, David Banda from Malawi in Africa.
LONDON: Madonna said she would not rule out adopting another child but first wanted to spend time with her new baby, David Banda from Malawi in Africa.
The US pop sensation also said she wanted the adoption laws in the impoverished continent to be changed to help millions of other children escape a life of suffering.
Speaking to BBC Television in an interview broadcast on Wednesday night, Madonna said she was stunned that her decision to adopt one-year-old David caused such a worldwide uproar.
“It was quite shocking and there's no way I could have prepared myself for it,” the singer told Newsnight, the BBC's nightly current affairs programme.
On whether she would like to adopt another child, Madonna, 48, said: “I wouldn't rule it out. I would like it to not be as complicated in the future, but I would just like to experience David for a while and see how that works out first.”
David shot to worldwide fame after he was plucked from an orphanage, where he had been left by his father, and flown to Madonna's London mansion to live with her, her British film director husband Guy Ritchie and her two children -- daughter Lourdes, 10, and son Rocco, 6.
The chart topper said she and Ritchie had talked about adopting for two years.
She became interested in Malawi, a Southern African country hit hard by AIDS, and decided to fund a documentary about the plight of children there. Earlier this year, while watching footage for the film, Madonna said she first spotted David and many other youngsters at the orphanage and felt an instant connection.
The pop star insisted that she did not use her celebrity status to speed up the adoption process for the boy.
“I can assure you that I was not given any special treatment,” she said, stressing that for now she had only been granted an interim adoption so was technically a foster parent.
Malawian child rights groups, accusing the government of breaking the law in granting the interim order to a non-resident, are challenging the process in court. Final approval for the adoption order is expected in 18 months.
Madonna said she would like to see better adoption regulations in Africa to help orphans find new homes.
“I would like to get the adoption laws changed because I consider what is going on in Africa a state of emergency,” she said. “When you have an entire adult population wiped out and no one to look after these children, you've got to address the laws and make adoption easier for people.”
In the interview, Madonna also said she offered to support David and leave him in Malawi, but his father turned her down.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}