Madonna discusses adoption of child

Madonna discussesadoption of child
CHICAGO -- Madonna said the 13-month-old boy she plans to adopt from the African country of Malawi is healthy and thriving in her London home, in an interview that aired Wednesday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
The child, David Banda, was taken to London last week after Malawi's High Court granted Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, an interim adoption order.
Madonna said David was healthy, despite having overcome malaria and tuberculosis. The interview was taped Tuesday via satellite from London.
David's father, Yohane Banda, has said he didn't understand the adoption meant he would give up custody of his son "for good." But in an interview posted Tuesday on Time magazine's Web site, Banda said he will not contest the adoption.
"I don't want my child, who is already gone, to come back," he said. "I will be killing his future if I accept that."
Banda has said he is too poor to raise David.
Madonna said she met Banda, who thanked her for giving his son a new life. "I sat in that room, I looked into that man's eyes," she said.
The 30-minute interview with Winfrey was the first time Madonna had spoken on TV about the adoption, which has been challenged by human rights groups that allege the singer used her fame and fortune to flout Malawai's adoption laws.
David Banda has spent most of his life in an orphanage. His mother died shortly after childbirth.
Today's birthdays
Actress Shelley Morrison ("Will and Grace") is 70. Actor Bob Hoskins is 64. Author Pat Conroy is 61. TV host Pat Sajak is 60. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is 59. Singer Maggie Roche (The Roches) is 55. Musician Bootsy Collins is 55. Actor James Pickens Jr. ("Grey's Anatomy") is 54. Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52's) is 53. Actor D.W. Moffett is 52. Actress Rita Wilson is 50. Actor Dylan McDermott is 45. Actor Cary Elwes is 44. Singer Natalie Merchant is 43. Country singer Keith Urban is 39. Actor Tom Cavanagh is 38. Actor Anthony Rapp is 35. Actor Jon Heder is 29. Singer Mark Barry (BBMak) is 28.
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