Madonna Files Papers To Adopt Baby Boy From Malawi

It appears that Madonna is adopting a baby boy from Malawi after all, despite denials from her publicist last week.

The singer and her British film director husband Guy Ritchie took custody of a motherless one-year-old named David on Thursday after filing adoption papers and receiving interim approval from a judge to take the boy home, the Associated Press reports

.The boy's father, Yohame Banda, met with the celebrity couple in court to go through the proceedings. He said that he was pleased that his son will escape the poverty of his homeland with his new parents.

"They are a lovely couple. 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 arrived in Malawi on October 4 to inspect the progress of a project called Raising Malawi that she's helped fund to support AIDS orphans in the country, and she's visited a number of orphanages during her visit. David's mother Marita died from medical complications a month after his birth and he's since been cared for at an orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border.

While those most closely involved with David's adoption seem happy with it, a private Malawian child advocacy group called Eye Of The Child released an open letter to Madonna on Tuesday that welcomed her care and concern for the country's children, but questioned whether foreign adoptions were in their best interest. African orphans have traditionally been taken in by extended families, but the continent's AIDS crisis has made this more difficult since so many people have been afflicted by the disease.

"If the only other option is for them to be in a long-term institution, then we would consider international adoption," said Jackie Schoeman, the executive director of Cotlands, a South African organization that cares for children affected by HIV.

Madonna and Ritchie have a five-year-old son named Rocco, and the singer has a nine-year-old daughter named Lourdes from a previous relationship.