Father claims he was misled when giving child up for Madonna adoption

A MALAWIAN man who gave up his 13-month-old son to be adopted by Madonna said yesterday he had not realised he was signing away custody “for good”.

Yohane Banda signed adoption papers earlier this month, clearing the way for a Malawian judge to grant the pop singer and her husband a temporary order to take his son David.

“Our understanding was that they would educate and take care of our son just as they were doing at the orphanage,” the 32-year-old illiterate peasant farmer said in a telephone interview from Lipunga, the village where he ekes out a living growing vegetables.

Until now, Mr Banda has said his decision was in the best interests of his motherless son and criticised local charities who have started legal proceedings to challenge the adoption.

Mr Banda said his understanding was that “when David grows up he will return back home to his village”.

He said the director of Child Welfare Services, Penston Kilembe, and the retired pastor who heads the orphanage where David spent most of his life never told him by “adoption” it meant David will cease to be his son.

“If we were told that she wants to take the baby as her own we could not have consented, because I see no reason why I should give away my son,” he said.

Mr Banda’s wife died shortly after childbirth — a relatively frequent occurrence in the impoverished African nation which suffers from high rates of maternal and infant mortality — and he left his son with the orphanage.

Mr Banda said he was illiterate and so had no idea of the significance of the adoption papers he signed in the High Court in the capital Lilongwe.

Madonna’s Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula refused to comment, saying his clients have not given him any fresh instructions, but he insisted the singer followed all the procedures to adopt the child.

Critics of the adoption disagree. The Human Rights Consultative Committee, which comprises 67 human rights groups, has challenged the adoption, saying laws concerning the residency of the prospective parents were flouted and that it may set a precedent for human trafficking.