Pop superstar Madonna leaves a gym in northwest London October 18, 2006.. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Stephen HirdLondon, Oct 19: It seems pop star Madonna has really been bitten by the adoption bug, as she has revealed that she now wants to take home a little Malawi girl.
Speaking out for the first time, since adopting 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi, she revealed that she would now like to adopt a girl from the same African village.
"I saw this girl with the saddest smile. I told Guy 'We must give this child a home too'," Mirror quoted Madonna as saying to her relatives.
Meanwhile, in an official statement, Madonna, 48, explained her reasons for wanting to adopt David and insisted everything had been done legally and above board.
The ‘Material Girl’ hopes to make the adoption permanent following an l8-month evaluation period, imposed by Malawi authorities.
The letter titled ‘An Open Letter From Madonna’, claimed that she and her husband, Guy Ritchie, began the adoption process "many months prior to our trip to Malawi," but chose not to go public with the news, as "this is a private family matter."
"After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family," Madonna wrote.
Despite Madonna's claim that she had gone through the proper channels in seeking to adopting David, human rights and child protection groups in Malawi were outraged by the apparent speed with which she was able to take custody of the child and planned to challenge the adoption in court to ensure that rules were not bent for the singer simply because of her fame.
Madonna has pledged 3 million dollars to the impoverished nation through her Raising Malawi fund and is spearheading the construction of an orphanage that will be able to care for up to 4,000 children.
"I am overwhelmed and inspired by my trip to Malawi and hope that it helps bring attention to how much more the world needs to do to help the children of Africa," she wrote. (ANI)