at 12:04 on October 22, 2006, EST.

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) - The biological father of 13-month-old "Baby David" said Sunday that he was misled into agreeing to give up his son to American pop diva Madonna.

Yohane Banda said that authorities had not made it clear to him that he was giving up his only son "for good."

"Our understanding was that they (Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie) would educate and take care of our son just as they were doing at the orphanage," said the 32-year-old illiterate peasant farmer in a telephone interview from Lipunga Village where he ekes out a living growing onions and tomatoes.

Banda signed adoption papers earlier this month, clearing the way for a judge to grant the celebrity couple a "temporary order" to take away the baby, who was flown to London last week.

Until now he has defended his move as in the best interests of his motherless son.


©The Canadian Press, 2006


Oh boy, I can see this situation getting real ugly

luv4u said:

Yeah, both the situation and this thread.....

Posts to be expected in this thread:

"Madonna is a talentless attention seeking slag."
"Madonna steals children for her own commercial gain."
"Madonna is a whore"
"Madonna is ugly"
"Madonna should have broken her spinal cord when she fell of her horse."
"Madonna is an awful mother."
"Madonna lip synches lullabyes to her adopted son"

And many more of our favorites.
[Edited 10/22/06 10:05am]

Brutal.

Now it really does look like Madonna completed the final tearing-apart of that man's family.

CinisterCee said:

Yeah, and just days ago:


Posted: 18 October 2006 - From AP Via Yahoo! News
The biological father of Baby David - the 13-month-old boy adopted by Madonna - on Wednesday criticized human rights groups seeking to reverse the move and said his child should stay with the star.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee, a coalition of 67 organizations, launched a legal challenge Tuesday to the Malawian government decision to relax the usual ban on adoptions by foreigners and relax the requirement that prospective parents have to stay with the child for 18-24 months for assessment before the adoption is formalized.
'Where were these people when David was struggling in the orphanage? These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone,' Yohane Banda said.
'As father I have okayed this, I have no problem; the village has no problem, who are they to cause trouble? Please let them stop.'
Madonna and British film director husband Guy Ritchie Thursday spent eight days in Malawi and last Thursday signed adoption papers for Baby David. Banda, David's father, counter-signed the papers and High Court judge, Justice Andrew Nyirenda, issued the celebrity couple an 'interim order' okaying the couple to take the baby away 'with conditions.'
The boy was flown to London on Monday.
A government official said the laws being used by the civil rights groups to mount the challenge were 'archaic.'
Penston Kilembe, the Director of Child Welfare Services in the Ministry of Gender, child Welfare and Community Services, told The AP the laws the civil rights groups are using are 'archaic.'
'These laws date back to the 1940s; things have changed now,' he said. 'Madonna and her husband has broken no laws as far as government is concerned. They have followed all the legal steps.'
Kilembe said when approving the adoption of Baby David government looked at rights of the baby and the family and 'found nothing amiss.'
'These groups should fight for rights of children, not block the same like they are trying to do now,' he said.
The civil rights groups chairman, Justice Dzonzi, said they were not against the adoption, but wanted the laws followed. 'If Madonna really wants the child, she has to apply for residency permit in Malawi,' he said.
The star found David at the Home of Hope Orphanage, which looks after more than 500 children who have lost one or both parents.
Banda's wife, Marita, 28, died a week after giving birth to David. The couple, who had been married for over 10 years, had two other sons who died in infancy from malaria.
'I was alone with a baby; I had no money, I couldn't buy him milk, that's why I surrendered him to the orphanage,' said Banda.
'Orphanage life is no good. We leave kids there because we can't look after them properly ourselves. Now my son has been taken by a kindhearted woman, these people want to bring him back to the orphanage,' lamented Banda, standing in his small garden of onions and tomatoes.
The peasant farmer said Madonna and Ritchie promised him nothing apart from 'love and care for my David.'
Banda's village is typical of many in Malawi - no electricity or running water, and basic mud huts. Few inhabitants had even heard of Madonna before the controversy erupted.
'Whoever she is she is a kindhearted woman,' said Village Headman Lipunga, the chief of the village. 'We all love her here and we hope she will visit us soon.'

All this just to promote a new childrens book?!

lazycrockett said:

Nothing like a bit of drama to get a number 1!

MikeMatronik said:

Weird stuff...

jayaredee said:

exactly, this whole thing is totally confusing.

he wants money....his son's best interests are taken care of and now he must try to see to his own.
[Edited 10/22/06 22:25pm]

Voidra said:

and you know this cause?

looks like Madonna will be on the Oprah Winfrey Show this Wednseday to talk about the adoption and all the controversy it has created:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...yFpo8FqcSY

Voidra said:

I don't know if that's true,but Madonna could have saved herself alot of trouble by adopting a child with no parents.There's always a chance that the parent(s) could "change their mind" years later and decide that they want the child back.Or,given her massive wealth,they could demand alot of money in the coming years.You never know.

lazycrockett said:

For god sake...the father put his son in a orfanage. He's a sick motherfucker!

A parent that does to a kid is worse than an insect!!!

MikeMatronik said:

This is one of the most elitist pompous comments I have ever read here

ThirdandFinal said:

My mother's father put her on a orphanage and he could take care of her...

Welcome to the org!

But hey, madonna is a whore...she should have let the kid there, where he could have a "great life" in the orphanage!!!!
[Edited 10/23/06 5:53am]

MikeMatronik said:

For god sake...the father put his son in a orfanage. He's a sick motherfucker!

A parent that does to a kid is worse than an insect!!!

That is the coment I am replying to, nothing to do with Madonna, nothing to do with your mother.

I have been on the org much longer than you and your comment is the most elitist I have ever seen here

ThirdandFinal said:

Actually I've been here under another username...

And believe me, there's nothing elitist about me. If you had my life...you would know how it is to suffer under the elitist ones!
[Edited 10/23/06 6:06am]
[Edited 10/23/06 6:10am]

Just give the kid back and forget about it Madonna. Is this fiasco ever gonna end?

So now that the father has stated that he was mislead or ill informed, WILL Madonna
give him back?

MikeMatronik said:

the father lives in a mud hut and grows tomatoes in his "backyard" for a living how could he take care of the baby? he said he didn't have enough money to buy milk for the kid.I don't think he deserves to be called a motherfucker and an insect.

Bev, I hope you are not becoming obsessed with this story. lol

purpledusk971 said:

I don't like when parent abandon their children...It's something that makes me mad.

A good parent never leaves a child.

Sorry if my coment was a bit unfortunate, but the subject of parents i something that is painfull for me.

Note that my reaction is not based on the fact that I'm a Madonna fan
[Edited 10/23/06 14:42pm]

MikeMatronik said:

That is a load of crap

Agood parent makes sure their child is taken care of properly

ThirdandFinal said:

It's your opinion...I have my reasons.

Don't want to start a war with no one here!

On Perezhilton

runs to see what wikipedia has to say.....

lazycrockett said:

Can you imagine the scenario if the kid's returned to Malawi? Blantyre, 2018:


At this point, David does a Wikipedia search, goes home, shoots his father, then gets on the blower to Liz Rosenberg:

Ace said: