Madonna was in tug-of-love battle for second Malawian orphan

MADONNA was involved in a tug-of-love battle over a second Malawian child she hoped to adopt, it was claimed yesterday.

The pop superstar chose 18-month-old Jessica Kondanani as the latest addition to her family, according to Closer magazine.

But an Australian couple also had their hearts set on giving the little girl a new home and say they are now in the process of adopting her.

Madonna is said to have fallen in love with Jessica during a visit to an orphanage earlier this year and spent two hours with her.

Jessica was abandoned under a bush hours after her birth, with the umbilical cord still attached.

Last month Madonna brought 14-month-old David Banda home to Britain.

But Malawi government minister of child welfare Penstone Kilembe said: “Her first choice, before David, was a baby girl called Jessica Kondanani. We suspect she was abandoned by her mother, possibly a schoolgirl.”

Australian Baptist missionaries Angela and John Wilmot say they want Jessica.

“We knew Madonna was at the orphanage and that she had met all the kids, but we were already in the process of adopting Jessica. And we hope we will be successful,” Ms Wilmot, 34, told the magazine.

The couple moved to Malawi seven years ago and have already adopted four children there.

They fully support Madonna’s decision to adopt a child from the African country.

Mr Wilmot, 42, said: “She’s got as much right to adopt as anybody and it’s up to the local authorities to see if she’s got the capacity and ability to do it.

“I don’t know what drove the mother to leave Jessica, but it always comes back to poverty.”