Wednesday, November 01, 2006

MADONNA'S MALAWI 'SUPPORT OFFER' !

Madonna on adoption

Madonna offered to support the African baby she hopes to adopt and leave him in Malawi but his father declined, the pop star has told the BBC.
In a Newsnight interview, to be shown on Wednesday night, she denied reports that David Banda had regular visits from his family at his orphanage. She "became interested in him" after being told he had been "left in the orphanage", she said. He is now at her London home after she was granted a temporary custody order.
'Offer declined'
Madonna denied newspaper reports that David had regular visits at the orphanage from his father and his grandmother. If someone had said to me, oh his dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after, I would not even have given it another thought - Madonna

'Life-changing' adoption
"I disagree," she said.
Asked if it would have been an option to support him and leave him in Malawi, she replied: "Yes, I offered that option to the father and he declined.
"And I never met a granny and I was told... that from the day that he was left in the orphanage he was not visited by any extended family members and that's really why I became interested in him.
"If someone had said to me, 'His dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after,' I would not even have given it another thought."

THE EDITORS' BLOG
Oprah Winfrey and now Newsnight... But are we right to do the interview?
Peter Barron,Editor of Newsnight
Peter's thoughts in full

There were "many conditions" that made her "worry for his life", Madonna added.
"One was the fact that, according to the reverend who ran the orphanage that David came from, his father never visited him. "His father lived 50 or 60km away, had no car, had no money and, as far as I was told, had remarried and moved on with his life."
Father's protest On Friday, the hearing of a case brought by Malawi rights groups challenging the adoption was adjourned until 13 November.

David Banda is staying at Madonna's London home. An alliance of 67 groups is pushing for the right to challenge the interim adoption order which let Madonna take one-year-old David out of the country. His father was at the court, protesting against moves to halt the adoption. Mr Banda told the BBC he feared the controversy stirred by the groups could prompt Madonna to return his son.
He urged the human rights groups challenging the adoption to leave the child alone and added that he was unable to look after David himself.
Madonna funds six orphanages through her Raising Malawi charity and is setting up an orphanage for 4,000 children in a village outside the capital, Lilongwe.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

Madonna will appear on Newsnight on BBC Two at 2230 GMT on Wednesday.

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