No baby for Madonna
2006-10-05 12:39
Los Angeles - A spokesperson for Madonna on
Wednesday denied claims by officials in the African nation of
Malawi that the pop star had adopted a one-year-old orphan boy
there.
Spokesperson Liz Rosenberg called the report "completely
inaccurate" but said Madonna was not bothered by it because it would draw attention to the problems of children in the
impoverished African nation.
Rosenberg, said Madonna was visiting orphanages in Malawi
this week as part of a charitable programme to provide care for an estimated one million children who are without parents in the
southern African nation, many of them suffering from Aids.
"She has has not adopted a child," Rosenberg said.
"She went on a private visit to Malawi ... to participate in the building of an orphanage and several other inititaives that are all under the auspices of an organisation called Raising
Malawi."
Rosenberg said there was no truth to statements from the
Malawian government that Madonna had chosen to adopt a year-old
boy from among 12 children specially selected prior to her
arrival in the capital city of Lilongwe on Wednesday.
"She asked us to identify boys only, which we have done
after visiting four orphanages in Lilongwe," government
spokesperson Adrina Michiela said, adding that Madonna had wanted
to adopt a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago.
'Anything that brings attention to the country is fine with her'
"None of that is accurate," said Rosenberg.
Malawian officials were not immediately available for
comment on the denial by Madonna.
Asked whether the 48-year-old star, already a mother of two
children with her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, was
making adoption plans or contemplating adopting a child in the
future, Rosenberg said, "I have no idea."
Rosenberg said she had spoken to Madonna directly since the
adoption story broke and that the singer was not angry about the
situation.
"I think that anything that brings attention to the country
is fine with her, even if it's information that's not correct," the publicist said.
"She wants people to pay attention to Malawi
and to the one million children who don't have parents and don't have care there."