Madonna speaks about adoption, children while promoting documentary
The controversy surrounding the adoption, not yet finalized, of 2 ½-year-old David Banda proved quite painful for Madonna — pain the 49-year-old yesterday likened to that experienced in childbirth. During a press conference in Cannes to promote her new documentary I Am Because We Are, which chronicles the plight of children in David’s home country of Malawi, Madonna expressed resentment over the media’s handling of David’s story.
It was painful and it was a big struggle and I didn’t understand it. But in the end, I rationalized that when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount…So I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains with dealing with the press on my front doorstep accusing me of kidnapping or whatever you want to call it.
Madonna dismissed suggestions that David’s father was not supportive of the adoption, saying the two had met and Yohane Banda "absolutely agreed" that David should live in London with Madonna, her husband Guy Ritchie and their children Lourdes, 11 and Rocco, 7. She also rejected the notion that the adoption was controversial; Instead, she says, it was simply complicated by Malawi’s outdated adoption laws.
There is just a lot of bureaucracy and administration and papers that have to be gone through. [David’s] adoption was the beginning of the creation of adoption law in Malawi. I’m the template, a role model for the future…I went to Malawi thinking I was going to save children’s lives and make a big difference in their lives, and hopefully I have. The surprise to me was how much they changed me.
Sources: AP, The Australian; Photo by Splash News
Do you have any experience with international adoption? Will you see Madonna’s film?