UK charity urges Madonna to reconsider adoption

March 28, 2009

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter, Associated

Press Writer – 17 mins ago

LONDON – A British children's charity has urged Madonna to stop and think before

adding another African child to her celebrity family.

Save the Children UK said Saturday that the recently divorced star risked

sending the wrong message by adopting a second child from the poor southern

African nation of Malawi.

A person involved in the Malawian adoption proceedings, speaking anonymously due

to the sensitivity of the subject, told The Associated Press on Friday that

Madonna plans to adopt a 4-year-old girl there. The recently divorced star has

already adopted a Malawian boy.

" Please think twice, " Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt said, explaining

that many of the international adoptions that occur around the world are

unnecessary.

Nutt said he was not suggesting that Madonna was doing anything wrong — but he

said the whole process of international adoptions is often flawed.

" I would not want to, for one second, suggest that Madonna hasn't done anything

by the book, " Nutt said. " But sometimes the book can fail. "

Nutt said that, barring exceptional circumstances, children should be kept in

the care of their extended families or within their communities.

Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg in New York, who has not commented on the

adoption reports, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the star would make

no comment on Save the Children's appeal.

Madonna was harshly criticized for her adoption of Banda, now 3, to her

family in 2008. The process was criticized by children's advocacy groups who

accused the 50-year-old star of wielding her wealth and influence to circumvent

Malawian law requiring an 18- to 24-month assessment period before adoption.

Reports that Madonna wants to adopt a girl from Malawi have been circulating for

some time. But the first official hint came from the star herself last week.

In an interview in Malawi's leading daily The Nation, the singer said she was

considering another adoption but would only do it if she had " the support of the

Malawian people and government. "

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