Madonna insists Malawi adoption is lawful

Madonna insisted yesterday that she had broken no laws in her efforts to adopt a Malawian baby. As 13-month-old David Banda arrived in London, the singer said it was her wish to open her home "to help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death".

The pop star responded to speculation that she has not been approved as an adoptive parent by the British authorities and accusations that she has fast-tracked the adoption process in Malawi. "We have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child," she said, adding that reports to the contrary were inaccurate.

She said that she had begun the adoption process many months ago ­ but as it was a "private family matter" she did not wish to "disclose [her] intentions to the world".

In an open letter signed Madonna Ritchie, she said that following an 18-month evaluation period she hopes to make this adoption permanent. " This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly," she said.

Yesterday, the two local authorities in which Madonna and her husband, the film director Guy Ritchie, have homes ­ Wiltshire and Westminster ­ indicated unofficially that they had not been approached by the couple to be approved as adopters.

Under British law, prospective parents must be approved in the UK before they can adopt from abroad, although couples can use private agencies as well as local authorities for the process. A local authority must be informed within 14 days of an adoptive child arriving from overseas, with penalties including a jail sentence if the law is broken. There is speculation she may process the adoption in the US, where the system is faster; David was issued with a US visa in Malawi.

Madonna's attempts to damp down the media brouhaha over the adoption of David Banda, whose mother died within days of childbirth, came hours after the infant arrived in London on an overnight flight from Johannesburg. Trailed by paparazzi and satellite vans, he was accompanied by a bodyguard and a stylist on his journey to the singer's £7.5m home near Marble Arch to begin a new life in the international spotlight.

The saga is already being played out in the glossy pages of celebrity magazines, with Hello! claiming the first victory with "emotional" pictures of Madonna's trip to Malawi last week, although they do not include images of David. A bidding war looms for the first pictures of David with his new parents.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt commanded more than £4m for the first pictures of their baby, and donated the fee to charity.

It remains to be seen how David will cope with the dual pressures of adoption and fame as he grows up, as well as the ethnic differences with his new family. Adoption experts warned that he could struggle to adjust in his new home. Jonathan Pearce, director of Adoption UK, said: "Not only are you removing the child from the family, you are taking them out of their racial and ethnic heritage, which is even more difficult for a child to deal with. The child doesn't recognise faces any more. You can only imagine what that is like for the child."

Anna Feuchtwang, from the charity EveryChild, said: "Inter-country adoption is fine as a last resort when all other options have been explored. But you have to take the best interests of the child into account first."

Max Clifford, the publicist, said Madonna and Guy Ritchie had to win over sceptics about their reasons for the adoption. "It's important [they]... convince people that what they've done is right and that the way they've gone about it is right ­ that they haven't cheated or taken advantage."

Pressure groups in Malawi threaten legal action to block the interim adoption order. They claim the couple were allowed to fast-track the process, although the Malawian government said no rules were broken.

David was "picked" by Madonna after she was e-mailed pictures of 13 boys in a Malawian orphanage. The singer travelled to Africa last week to meet David but left without him at the weekend because of passport wrangles surrounding the boy.

The Malawian courts will now spend 18 months assessing whether the couple should be granted a full adoption order.

Style-conscious nanny for a new baby

While Madonna has hidden behind the blacked-out windows of her people carrier and the heavily guarded door of her central London home, her newly adopted son has been left in the arms of her personal stylist. Shavawn Gordon was the woman detailed to bring back 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi to his new home. Although she listed her occupation on her African visa as "nanny" Ms Gordon is described on film and celebrity websites as Madonna's personal stylist.

The twentysomething American is also a bit-part actress who appears in a non-speaking role in the critically derided film Swept Away, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Madonna. She has worked for Madonna for more than five years and met her husband through the singer when he was a carpenter on one of her world tours.

Maxine Frith