Madonna agrees to adoption monitoring

Madonna accepts a Malawian high-court ruling allowing a coalition of human rights groups to monitor her as she tries to adopt a Malawian child, the singer’s lawyer said today.

“The Ritchies called me from London and I explained to them the ruling…They have no problem with the ruling and are also willing to sit back and wait,” Alan Chinula told reporters in the capital, Lilongwe.

Justice Andrew Nyirenda ruled yesterday that the Human Rights Consultative Committee and the state-run Malawi Human Rights Commission could join the adoption process as friends of the court and could pursue their application for a full judicial review of the interim custody order he earlier granted to Madonna and her filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie.

The rights groups say they are concerned that the government had cut legal corners to fast-track the adoption. They said that while they do not object to Madonna as a prospective parent, regulations must be followed to protect children.

Chinula said that the challenge would help clarify Malawi’s ”antiquated laws” on adoption, and that the Madonna case will be a “guiding case for future adoptions”.

Yohane Banda, the 32-year-old biological father of the 14-month-old Madonna wants to adopt, said today that he hoped the celebrity case would lead to reforms to make it easier for foreigners to adopt Malawian children.

“In Malawi, there are to many underprivileged children, most of them orphans. I appeal to rich people with Madonna’s kind heart to come and adopt these children,” he said at his mud-and-thatch home in Lipunga village in the central border district of Mchinji, about 200 kilometres from Lilongwe.

He added he had heard that David, the son he surrendered to an orphanage soon after his birth, was being sent to expensive schools and hospitals under Madonna’s care in London.

“We are happy here,” he said. “I know Madonna loves the child. I want to encourage her to keep on loving David.”

Banda surrendered David after his 28-year-old wife of 10 years, Marita, died from childbirth complications on October 1, 2005, a week after giving birth to David.

Malawian regulations stipulate that prospective parents undergo an 18-to-24-month assessment period in the country, but Madonna and Ritchie were allowed to take David to their London home, which Malawian child-welfare officials will visit twice to monitor the family.

An estimated two million children have lost one or both parents and hundreds are adopted by foreigners every year in Malawi, which has been ravaged by Aids. Madonna’s adoption bid coincided with her larger project to help Malawian orphans.