Pop singer Madonna filed papers at a Malawi court on Thursday to adopt a one-year-old boy whose mother died about a month after his birth.

A judge has issued an interim order allowing the celebrity and her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, to go home with the boy, named David.

Madonna visits with children during her trip to Malawi. The singer visited an orphanage in Malawi on the second day of a trip to highlight the plight of AIDS orphans.
(Shavawn Rissman/Associated Press)

Madonna's publicist has repeatedly denied reports that she would adopt a child since she arrived in Malawi last week. Malawi is a landlocked nation located in southeast Africa.

But assistant high court registrar Thomson Ligowe confirmed the interim order was signed Thursday.

A London-based spokesman for Madonna said the couple expected to have an announcement soon.

David's father, Yohane Banda, who is from a village called Lipunga near the Zambian border, said he is happy for his son.

"I am very happy. As you can see there is poverty in my village," Banda said, adding that he could not afford to bring up his son.

He says Madonna has promised to bring the boy back for visits.

The child has been cared for by the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in Mchinji since his mother died.

Visiting orphanages

Madonna, 48, has spent most of the past week visiting orphanages and meeting charity workers in Malawi.

She is spearheading a campaign by her Raising Malawi charity to get help for the 900,000 orphans in the country, many of them HIV-positive.

AIDS has destroyed many families in Malawi, which has a population of 13 million.

Reports that she was planning to adopt a child have prompted criticism from some quarters.

Malawian law says adoptive parents must be residents in the country to adopt. Child-advocacy group Eye of the Child has said the rules should not be changed for celebrities.

"We are a little bit worried that our laws are being violated with this adoption," Maxwell Matewere, executive director of the group, said in an interview with Reuters.

"I don't think violating the law is in the best interests of the child."

Madonna and Ritchie already have a son and a daughter. They plan to raise David with their other children in Britain and the U.S. once the legal adoption process is completed.

With files from the Associated Press