The superstar graces the cover of the new issue of People magazine, with four of her six children: 11-year-olds David and Mercy, and five-year-old twins Estere and Stella. All four were adopted from Malawi, which, as Madonna recalls, made the adoption process challenging.
As she tells People, “Because I’m a public figure, people don’t want to be perceived as giving me any kind of special treatment, so I get the hard road.”
She adds, “It’s complicated, but it’s so worth it.”
Madonna says the twins are now firmly a part of her family, but they’re still learning. One day, her song “Holiday” came on, and David told the girls it was one of their mom’s hits.
Madonna says, “They were like, ‘Huh?'” They don’t have a clue, and that’s a good thing. I’m just their mother.”
But adopting the twins was nothing compared to what Madonna went through in 2008 when she adopted David: she was accused of “kidnapping” him.
“In my mind, I was thinking, ‘Wait a minute. I’m trying to save somebody’s life….I did everything by the book. That was a real low point for me. I would cry myself to sleep,” Madonna tells People.
When she tried to adopt Mercy, the Malawi court said Madonna “not capable of raising a child,” because she’d just divorced her then-husband, Guy Ritchie. “The way I was treated — that sexist behavior — was ridiculous,” says the star.
You can read more about Madonna, her kids and her efforts to help all the children of Malawi, in the new issue of People.
Time Inc./PEOPLEYesterday, Madonna revealed on Instagram that FedEx wouldn’t release her packages because they didn’t believe she was Madonna. Well, it turns out the Queen of Pop’s own kids don’t know she’s Madonna, either.
