Madonna’s adoption of Malawian child

The adoption of a Malawian child by the pop music star Madonna has raised the role that poverty and class play in the adoption process.

Madonna and her spouse, film director Guy Ritchie, decided to adopt 18-month-old David Banda following a tour she made of Malawi, located in southern Africa, in early October.

Madonna commented on a recent Oprah Winfrey show that she was told by the orphanage where David had been staying since he was two weeks old that the child was abandoned by his father and that his mother and his siblings had died from AIDS.

David’s father, Yohane Banga, an indigent farmer, is very much alive and has remarked that his spouse and another child had not died from AIDS. In fact, David’s mother died from complications while giving birth to David, and his sibling had perished from malaria.

Madonna also commented to Winfrey that neither Yohane Banga nor any other family members had come to the orphanage to visit David. This claim was strongly refuted by David’s father and other extended family members. The orphanage blamed the Malawi Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare for putting out this false information.

Yohane Banga reportedly was not initially for the idea of giving up his child if it meant that “David would no longer be my son—if I was told this. I would not have allowed the adoption.” He later on changed his mind about the adoption because “I would be killing his future.” (AP, Oct. 16)

While the issue of permanent adoption won’t be decided until the Malawian courts rule on Nov. 13, Madonna was given temporary custody of David and was allowed to take him to her home in London on Oct. 13.

Notwithstanding the father’s decision, an alliance of 67 Malawian human rights groups is legally challenging Madonna’s attempt to adopt David.

Some of these groups indicated the fact that Madonna has pledged to donate $3 million to Malawian orphanages could have impacted on the Malawi government’s decision to waive certain laws allowing Madonna to adopt the infant. Others asked why Madonna didn’t offer money to Yohane Banga to help take care of his son in his home country.

One of these groups, Eye of the Child, stated in an open letter: “Inter-country adoption is prohibited under the Malawi current Children Adoption Act as section 3(5) reads, ‘an adoption order shall not be made in favor of any applicant who is not a resident in Malawi or in respect of any infant who is so resident.’”

A spokesperson for this group, Boniface Mandere, told AP that while his group does not oppose international adoption or anyone trying to come to the aid of poor children, “You cannot buy a child as you are buying a house. ... It’s not like selling property.”

He said that Malawian law requires that any foreign adults wishing to adopt a child must live in Malawi for a year to allow social agencies to monitor their child rearing skills.

The reality is that the adoption of children born into poverty by single adults or couples living in rich capitalist countries is increasing. Another inescapable reality is that a disproportionate number of these children are people of color while those doing the adopting are white. Whether the majority of these children have been lucky to find loving homes or not—despite any racial, cultural or class differences—it is symptomatic of a much larger global issue.

Malawi has one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS in the world. It is estimated that about 14 percent of Malawi’s population of 12 million people are HIV positive, resulting in about 1 million Malawian children being orphaned. (National AIDS Commission)

ActionAid commented that the Western countries have an obligation to provide AIDS drugs to poorer countries. “We want long-term solutions for whole communities, not short-term fixes,” stated their spokesperson, Jane Mayo.

The permanent solution would be for the eradication of capitalist exploitation and plunder—to allow countries like Malawi to fully develop their economies and social structures to meet the needs of the entire people, which would give family members like Yohane and David Banga a real choice of staying together.

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