A giant mural of Madonna on the facade of a Hollywood hotel
© AFP/File Gabriel BouysLOS ANGELES (AFP) - The 48-year-old US singer who has had a knack of ruffling feathers throughout her career told People magazine she had not expected the level of criticism levelled at her since the adoption.
"I expect to be given a hard time about many of the things I do," Madonna told the celebrity news magazine in an interview to be published Friday.
"I know they are provocative and I prepare myself, but I did not expect the media, the government or any human rights organizations to take a stand against me trying to save a child's life."
Madonna was granted an interim order to adopt David Banda, a poor farmer's son, by a high court in Malawi last week.
But the Human Rights Consultative Committee, an umbrella grouping of 67 local rights groups in Malawi, went to court Monday to challenge the order allowing Madonna to adopt the boy.
Under Malawi laws, expatriates adopting a child have to live in the country for 18 months and are monitored by social workers before they get full adoption rights.
Madonna has also faced opposition from charities which say she could use her wealth more effectively, such as helping African parents fight AIDS and keeping orphaned children in their home communities.
Madonna insists the adoption was legal, saying she and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie had begun the process several months ago and acted "according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child."
And the baby's father Yohane Banda has blasted the Madonna's critics.
"Where were these people when David was struggling in the orphanage?" he told British media.
"These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone."
©AFP