Madonna: “I’ll never forget meeting my son”
When Madonna traveled to Malawi, Africa in April of 2006 to film her documentary I Am Because We Are, she knew she would face children whose futures looked bleak. What shedidn’t predict, however, was that she’d fall in love with one child inparticular, her son David Banda, now 2 ½.
Of her movie, Madonna tells Jeanne Wolf of Parade.com that she was asked by locals to bring attention to the helpless children in the AIDS-ravaged country.
I was approached by a woman who lived there who said, ‘Look, youhave children; you’re a mother; you write children’s books; you donatemoney to children’s charities, so we know that you care. There’s astate of emergency going on here, over a million children orphaned byAIDS. People pay attention to what you do and what you say, so couldyou please help?’ I just thought, ‘How can I say no?’
Stricken by the pain and suffering she saw, Madonna was taken not only with David, but other orphans as well.
If I could, I would have adopted 10 more children. There’s just somany that need parents and one’s more beautiful and lovely than thenext.
Since adopting David, Madonna, already a major target of the paparazzi, has felt the attention on her family — husband Guy Ritchie, daughter Lourdes Maria, 11, and son Rocco John, 7 ½ — majorly increase. With information about her adoption battles leaked publicly, she’s felt pressure from reporters and photographers alike, calling it "a constant battle."
I try to avoid places where I think mykids are going to get inundated by paparazzi. In England, there’s a lawagainst photographing children. So it’s a little bit easier there.Airports we can’t avoid. Sometimes it’s just unavoidable….I don’twant to live my life behind closed doors. I want to be out in the worldand I want to be free.
Source: Parade; Photo by Splash News.
Thanks to CBB reader Kate.
- Posted on Jun 25, 08 at 9:00AM
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- 5 Comments
June 25th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I hope that there will one day be a charity helping not-too-rich people with adoption fees. We are saving money for adopting a baby from China or Russia, but it’s so expensive !!! Celebs cannot adopt them all, but by setting up a charity they could help others to adopt those they can’t. I would like to adopt 3, but with the costs and everything we’ll be happy for one. there are so many children out there without parents and so many parents without children and these need to find each other regardless the cost. It drives me nuts that there are agencies and people making money on providing needy children with a better life
June 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Oh Nikka! Good luck with that! And very good to point that out, that people can also help donating to finance people that are very well capable of raising a child but have to save many, many years for that.
On the other hand, does anyone know more on the background of the English law of not taking pics of kids? I think it is an amazing law, but for as far as I remember it’s quite a new law.
How did this came about exactly?
June 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Nikka, I couldn’t agree more! my husband and i have just started looking into adoption (we too want to adopt 3) and the costs are insane! there agencies should be about finding kids good homes…why are $30,000 in fees necessary? i’m going to delay grad school so we can save up, but like you, i don’t see how we can afford to adopt more than 1.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
There would be nothing better then a celebrity starting a adopting charity for people like us. She can’t adopt 10 children but ten of us could. So maybe one day someone will read these posts and will make things happen
June 25th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Oh and for those agencies and people making money on a child’s misery, that’s imho hyenism. No one should be making money of helping orphaned or abused child get a second chance.