Popstar Madonna confirms custody for Malawi boy (Roundup)

Oct 13, 2006, 17:25 GMT

Madonna visits the Kondanani Children\'s village near Malawi\'s commercial capital Blantyre, October 5, 2006. REUTERS/Eldson Chagara

London - US pop diva Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie have been granted custody of one-year-old David, their adopted African orphan boy, a spokeswoman for the star confirmed Friday.

'Final legal arrangements are being made to bring him home to his new family,' spokeswoman Liz Rozenberg said.

The singer is expected to bring David, whose mother died of a fever just a week after giving birth, to London from Malawi to begin his new life with his adopted family.

Madonna, 48, and the world's richest singer, already has two children, nine-year-old Lourdes and Rocco, a five-year-old son she has with Ritchie.

The couple flew out of Malawi in a private jet early Friday, after spending several days in the southern African state.

A judge at the High Court in Lilongwe, the Malawian capital, had approved the official application filed by the star, after the boy's father, Yohame Banda, reportedly gave his full support to the adoption in a meeting with Madonna.

However, the speed and circumstances with which the couple were apparently able to formalize the adoption has prompted criticism in Malawi and in Britain.

Karen Gillon, a member of the Scottish parliament, said: 'This smacks of celebrity-itis and I think it's more about Madonna's needs than the child's.'

In Malawi, controversy was brewing about the nature of the adoption and the implications for orphaned children.

Few ordinary Malawians doubt Madonna's good intentions. Apart from helping David, Madonna has set out to help thousands of other orphans with her Raising Malawi initiative.

But some have expressed concern that others, with less honourable motives 'might take advantage of cutting corners' in their bid to secure adoptions, a Malawi-based journalist told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries with nearly one million orphans, a phenomenon driven by high levels of poverty and AIDS infection.