Wave goodbye to Africa! Madonna and her new twins aged 4
WALKING hand in hand through a field bathed in sunshine, Madonna and her new twin daughters look the picture of contentment.
After weeks of speculation, the singer confirmed last night that she has adopted the Malawian sisters.
The mother of six has spent two years going through Malawi’s court system to adopt four-year- olds Stella and Esther.
She had already adopted two children – son David and daughter Mercy – from the African country.
The singer shared the picture with her 8.7million Instagram followers last night, and wrote: ‘I can officially confirm I have completed the process of adopting twin sisters from Malawi and am overjoyed that they are now part of our family. I am deeply grateful to all those in Malawi who helped make this possible. Thank you also to my friends, family and my very large team for all your support and love!’
In the picture, the girls wore identical blue dresses decorated with white hearts. One appeared to gesture farewell as they walked past cattle in a grassy field.
Madonna, 58, was expected to fly to New York on a private jet with the girls last night after they were issued with passports and visas to enter the US. It will be the first time the girls have been outside Malawi, where they were born and left to grow up in an orphanage.
Their mother died five days after giving birth in August 2012, following complications from a caesarean section. Their father – who is believed to have five other children – was unable to cope and they were handed to the orphanage.
The adoption has not been plain sailing for Madonna. She has faced criticism in Malawi from activists who do not like the way she has gone about the process.
Ken Mhango, local head of the African Network for the Protection and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), accused Madonna of ‘portraying Malawi as having a pool of poor children on the market for adoption’.
He also criticised the secrecy surrounding the arrangements. Last week Madonna denied reports that she was in Malawi to adopt more children. Her publicist said she was in the country to check on a children’s hospital and on her charity, Raising Malawi.
Maxwell Matewere, director of the Eye of the Child charity, said: ‘Most families would love to raise their own children in a local environment if given the support.’ He added that the singer should ‘take a different approach from adoption by supporting poor families with vulnerable children’.
Madonna granted permission to adopt the twins on Tuesday at the High Court in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe. Judge Fiona Mwale said the pop star would provide a loving family life for the children in ‘a luxurious, spacious and comfortable abode in an affluent neighbourhood’ of the US.
The ruling also said that Madonna was ‘above the age normally considered within the ranges of parenting’ and had submitted a medical report to prove her good health.
Madonna’s adoption of David Banda in 2006 and Mercy James in 2009 from Malawi have been criticised by some of their birth family members over a lack of contact with the children.
The singer also has two biological children – daughter Lourdes, 20, by fitness trainer Carlos Leon, and son Rocco, 16, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.
‘She should take a different approach’