The saga continues. Madonna has said that she would offered to leave the baby she has adopted, David Banda, in his home country of Malawi whilst continuing to support him, but that his father Yohane declined.
In a Newsnight interview, broadcast on Wednesday, the singer explained that she only took an interest in David after being told that he had been left alone at the orphanage, and denied reports that his family were making regular visits. Asked if she would have been willing to offer the child financial support, but leave him behind, she replied: "Yes, I offered that option to the father and he declined".
She continued: "I was told... that from the day that he was left in the orphanage he was not visited by any extended family members and that's really why I became interested in him. If someone had said to me, 'His dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after', I would not even have given it another thought."
As previously reported, human rights groups in Malawi are planning to contest the adoption in court, a move which Yohane Banda has opposed.