Madonna said Tuesday that she was following standard procedures in her adoption of a Malawian girl, her first response to accusations that that she is using her fame to speed the process.
The pop superstar also took her 3-year-old adopted son, David, to visit the orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border, where he once lived. She brought him Monday to meet his biological father for the first time since he left Malawi in 2006.
“Madonna is committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with David’s Malawian roots,” said Liz Rosenberg in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Madonna took David, her 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and 8-year-old son Rocco to the orphanage with a security detail including uniformed Malawian police officers and plain-clothed guards from a private security firm. The entourage used two Toyota Land Cruisers to block a horde of journalists and more than 200 curious children.
There were scuffles with the journalists, including cameramen and TV crews, as they tried to enter the brick-walled orphanage.
Inside, the orphanage’s director Lucy Chipeta brought Madonna and her children to see the room and crib used by David.
Madonna confirmed she is trying to adopt a girl named Chifundo “Mercy” James who is about 4 years old.
A Malawian judge held a closed-door hearing Monday on Madonna’s application to adopt the girl but delayed ruling on the matter until Friday.
The girl’s 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth, according to the child’s uncle, John Ngalande. Her father is believed to be alive but has little contact with his daughter, he said.
A coalition of non-governmental organizations called the Human Rights Consultative Committee has criticized Madonna’s adoption attempts, saying that adoption should be the last resort and that children need to be taken care of by their own family.
“Mercy James is a child who has her extended close family members alive and we urge Madonna to assist the child from right here,” a statement from the coalition said.
Malawian law is fuzzy on foreign adoptions. Regulations stipulate only that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London.
Madonna may also face legal challenges as a single mother; she and Guy Ritchie recently divorced.
Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis. Her Raising Malawi organization, founded in 2006, raises funds to provide food, shelter, education and health care for children.