Madonna, in Malawi, refuses to talk about adoption
(Agencies)
2009-03-30 08:38
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U.S. pop star Madonna and her daughter Lourdes shake hands with residents in the village of Magwelo on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi, Sunday March 29, 2009. [Agencies] |
"International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve," spokesman Dominic Nutt said Saturday. "The very existence of orphanages encourages poor parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life."
Nutt said he was not suggesting that Madonna was doing anything wrong — but he said the whole process of international adoptions was often flawed and sometimes linked to criminal activity.
He said, 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 the star would not respond to comments from Save the Children.
Madonna told Malawi's The Nation newspaper that she was considering another adoption but would only do it if she had "the support of the Malawian people and government."
If the adoption goes through, Madonna would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with former husband and British film director Guy Ritchie and her daughter Lourdes from a previous relationship.
She and Ritchie, who were married in 2000, obtained a preliminary divorce decree in November 2008.