Madonna returns to Malawi but no plans to adopt

Thursday, April 12, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Madonna is heading back to Malawi to continue her charity work there but has no plans to adopt another child, a spokeswoman for the U.S. pop sensation said on Thursday.

Madonna, 48, caused a storm of controversy last year when she went to Malawi to adopt a one-year-old boy, David Banda. She was accused by adoption groups of using her celebrity status to bypass laws about foreigners adopting from Malawi.

News this week that Madonna was heading back to Malawi sparked some media speculation that she was planning to adopt another child but this was quickly denied.

"She's going back to continue her work with Raising Malawi Organization and to oversee the building of a children's health care center there," her spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg told Reuters by e-mail on Thursday.

"There are no plans for another adoption."

Madonna is in the legal processes of adopting the Malawian boy who was living in an orphanage after his mother died. His father, Yohane Banda, is alive but said he supported the adoption process.

Rosenberg said she did not know if the youngster would accompany Madonna to Malawi for a reunion with his father.

Madonna's publicist in London, Barbara Charone, said the singer was currently in England and planning a visit but did not know when she would go to Malawi.

As well as her adopted son, Madonna has a 10-year-old daughter, Lourdes, and a 6-year-old son, Rocco. She is married to British film director
Guy Ritchie.

Madonna has said she and Ritchie had not expected the difficulties or controversy they had faced in last year's adoption.

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