Madonna: Adopting as Hard as Childbirth

Madonna says her struggle to adopt a 3-year-old boy from Malawi is much like childbirth, AFP reports. “I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains with dealing with the press on my front doorstep accusing me of kidnapping,” the singer said. “It was painful, but in the end, I rationalised that, when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount."

A Malawi court is expected to rule this week whether the adoption of David Banda can take place, and Madonna says she's confident she will prevail. Critics say she's used her wealth to speed up the process, a charge she denies. Malawi has no laws on international adoptions, and Madonna says she "happy to be the guinea pig." (More Madonna stories.)