Madonna adopts entire country of children – not a baby
Madonna was on the fast track to be a mother of three today, when reports first surfaced from Africa that the singer had added a new child to her family from the southeastern African nation of Malawi.
The singer is in the country to inspect a multimillion-dollar project she’s funded to support AIDS orphans when government officials jumped the gun and incorrectly told reporters Madonna had another agenda – to adopt a child.
After she arrived early Wednesday in the capital city of Lilongwe, government officials told reporters Madonna chose the boy she adopted from a group of 12 children culled from four orphanages in the city. Andrina Mchiela – a top official in Malawi’s Ministry for Gender and Child Welfare – told reporters Madonna had originally wanted to adopt a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago and asked to choose from a group of boys instead.
Director of Social Welfare Benston Kilimbe told reporters Madonna was expected to file the adoption papers on Thursday and would be required to stay with the child for 18 months before the papers would be finalized. Since Madonna was unable to stay in Malawi for that period, the government waived its ban on nonresident adoptions for the singer, and the child will be in the care of the Network of Organizations for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children.
However, Madonna’s rep said the reports – from Reuters, The Associated Press and elsewhere – were erroneous.
“Despite reports stating otherwise, she has not adopted a baby boy,” the singer’s longtime spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, said today.
“There is no paperwork being finalized. She is visiting orphanages and totally involved in the building of a new orphanage and other initiatives to help the children of Malawi whose parents have died from the AIDS epidemic. So she is adopting an entire country of children.”
“Now that I have children and now that I have what I consider to be a better perspective on life, I have felt responsible for the children of the world,” Madonna told Time magazine in an exclusive interview last August. “I suppose I was looking for a big, big project I could sink my teeth into.”
The proceeds from Madonna’s next book, “The English Roses: Too Good to Be True,” due October 24, will also be donated to the Raising Malawi project. In support of the charity, her publishers will release a limited edition of the book in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi. Madonna will distribute the volumes throughout the country.
Madonna’s also planning a documentary about the plight of children in Malawi.
“My intent is to bring attention to the millions of children in Africa who are dying every day and are living without care, without medicine and without hope,” Madonna said in a recent statement. “I am asking people to open their hearts and minds to get involved in whatever way they can.”
From an article by Jennifer Vineyard, MTV News.
A spokeswoman for Madonna on Wednesday denied claims by officials in the African nation of Malawi that the pop star had adopted a one-year-old orphan boy there.
Spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg called the report “completely inaccurate” but said Madonna was not bothered by it because it would draw attention to the problems of children in the impoverished African nation.
Rosenberg, said Madonna was visiting orphanages in Malawi this week as part of a charitable program to provide care for an estimated 1 million children who are without parents in the southern African nation, many of them suffering from AIDS.
“She has not adopted a child,” Rosenberg told Reuters. “She went on a private visit to Malawi … to participate in the building of an orphanage and several other initiatives that are all under the auspices of an organization called Raising Malawi.”
Rosenberg said there was no truth to statements from the Malawian government that Madonna had chosen to adopt a year-old boy from among 12 children specially selected prior to her arrival in the capital city of Lilongwe on Wednesday. “None of that is accurate,” said Rosenberg, who acts as Madonna’s chief spokeswoman at her Warner Records music label.
Malawian officials were not immediately available for comment on the denial by Madonna.
Asked whether the 48-year-old star, already a mother of two children with her husband, British filmmaker Guy Richie, was making adoption plans or contemplating adopting a child in the future, Rosenberg said, “I have no idea.”
Rosenberg said she had spoken to Madonna directly since the adoption story broke and that the singer was not angry about the situation.
“I think that anything that brings attention to the country is fine with her, even if it’s information that’s not correct,” the publicist said. “She wants people to pay attention to Malawi and to the 1 million children who don’t have parents and don’t have care there.”
Source: Reuters via Yahoo! News.