Madonna's Adoption Plans Slammed by Politicians  10/13/06

Madonna has been slammed for her adoption plans by politicians, who fear her decision to take home a one-year-old boy from Malawi is a mere publicity stunt.

The pop queen and her director husband Guy Ritchie arrived in Malawi last Wednesday (04OCT06) and met local orphans and government ministers during their time there.

But members of a Scottish parliament group have hit out with concerns that the Material Girl star's motives are selfish.

Group president Karen Gillon says, "This smacks of celebrity-itis and I think it's more about Madonna's needs than the child's. Family is important in Malawi and I think this child belongs with his relatives.

"Perhaps the money she spends on this child would have been better invested in the whole community. There's something disquieting about walking into an orphanage and being able to pick a child out of the window, as it were.

"Every one of these kids desperately needs help and for someone to walk in there and pick out a child with the biggest smile or the healthiest or the best-looking, well, it's regrettable."