Baby Boy Adopted By Madonna Leaves Malawi Despite Opposition

10/16/06 8:00pm

Madonna's adoption of a 13-month-old baby boy from Malawi may face a number of legal hurdles in both the African nation and the U.K., where the singer lives with her husband and two children.

A number of Malawian aid agencies, child charities and church groups are trying to block the adoption of David Banda because they claim that regulations aren't being followed in an effort to fast-track the process. Malawi law states that anyone from outside the country who wants to adopt a Malawian child has to spend at least 18 months as a resident, a time in which the prospective parents' suitability would be assessed.

"We are not against Madonna adopting a child per se," said Justin Dzonzi, the chairman of Malawi's Human Rights Consultative Committee, in the This Is London section of Britain's Evening Standard newspaper. "We are simply asking that she follows the laws of this country."

An interim court order granted in Malawi on October 12 gave Madonna permission to take the boy back to Britain with her, but the HRCC argues that the order was unlawful and are appealing it. The interim order allowed the infant to leave the country for up to a year.

A number of requirements must also be met under British law for a person to adopt a child from abroad, which normally takes from two to four years. It appears that Madonna may not have yet complied with some of the requirements.Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie left Malawi without the boy on October 13 because final legal arrangements still hadn't been made, but Malawian officials said over the weekend that members of her entourage had stayed behind to care for him.

Reports said that a small private jet carrying the boy took off from Malawi on Monday morning. An immigration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press, said that the boy was with two Britons and two Americans, one of whom listed her occupation as nanny. He said that he only saw a U.S. visa in the child's passport and understood that they were headed to England via South Africa.

If Madonna needs any character witnesses to help her with the adoption, she better not turn to Boy George for help. The former Culture Club singer, in a documentary titled The Madness Of Boy George that will air on Britain's Channel 4 on Tuesday, said this of the superstar:

"I just think she's a vile, hideous, horrible human being with no redeeming qualities. There's nothing nice about her. I've never heard anyone say anything nice about her at all. And anyone that's ever met her she's been vile to. Vile, full of herself — so unspiritual. How has this woman got away with it for so long?"