Madonna and her
husband took custody of a motherless 1-year-old boy from
Malawi on Thursday after filing adoption papers and
receiving interim approval from a judge in the
impoverished southern African nation.
The boy's father
said he is happy for his son, named David, and pleased
with the celebrity couple who want to be his parents.
Yohame Banda, the
father, said he met Madonna and her film director
husband, Guy Ritchie, at the court as part of the
formalities. While they talked, Madonna, who has two
children, carried the baby boy, Banda said.
"They are a
lovely couple," Banda said. "She asked me many
questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am
happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child
grows she will bring him back to visit."
Madonna has not
commented publicly since her arrival in Malawi on October
4, though she has made several public appearances in support
of projects she supports there to care for AIDS
orphans. Her publicist declined comment on Wednesday
on the adoption reports.
Judge Andrew
Nyirenda "has just given out an interim order"
allowing Madonna to take David, said Thomson Ligowe, a court
registrar. The interim order allows the couple to take
the boy home.
Penston Kilimbe,
director of child welfare services in the Ministry of
Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Services, had said
earlier that Madonna and Ritchie filed adoption papers
before a judge at the Lilongwe High Court. "They have
followed the normal processes. This has been going on
for some time. Now this is the completion point," he said.
Madonna and
Ritchie have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a
daughter, Lourdes, 9.
On Tuesday,
32-year-old Banda told the Associated Press: "I am the
father of David, who has been adopted. I am very, very happy
because, as you can see, there is poverty in this
village, and I know he will be very well looked-after
in America."
He said his wife,
Marita, died a month after David's birth from medical
complications and that the child had been cared for at an
orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian
border.
Banda said his
son left the orphanage on Monday and was taken to the
capital, Lilongwe. Madonna has visited the orphanage at
least once during her visit. Its director, the
Reverend Thompson John Chipeta, has refused to speak
to the media. (AP)
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