The 64-year-old pop icon posed with Lourdes Leon, 26, Rocco Ritchie, 22, David Banda, 17, Chifundo "Mercy" James, 16, and twins Stella and Estere, 10.
Madonna is thankful for her family! The 64-year-old is a mom to 6 kids and recently posed with them in a rare photo together. In a series of photos shared online, the Papa Don't Preach singer first posed with her oldest child Lourdes, 26, whom she shares with Carlos Leon. The mother and daughter wore black corset outfits and looked into the camera with serious looks. Another photo had all the kids together for Thanksgiving. The brood also included Rocco Ritchie, 22, David Banda, 17, Chifundo "Mercy" James, 16, and twins Stella and Estere, 10, reports PEOPLE. Mercy, Stella, and Estere were adopted by Madonna from 2008 to 2017. Rocco is her biological son with ex-husband director Guy Ritchie.
Ritchie and Madonna got married in 2000 and split after being together for eight years in 2008. Speaking of their relationship, she told Newsweek, according to HuffPost. "When you start off, everything's great and lovely, and the person you've married is flawless, and you're flawless. Then time goes by, and you share a life, you have children, and there are cracks in the veneer."
Over the years, the musician has focussed much of her time and energy on raising her children. She chose to adopt after visiting Malawi a country in southeast Africa in 2006. At the time, she founded Raising Malawi, a nonprofit that aims to educate and support health services for many orphans in the country. She eventually ended up changing the lives of four kids in Malawi in particular. Speaking of family, the pop icon told PEOPLE in 2017, "It's inexplicable," she said at the time of what drew her to her children. "It's like saying, 'Why do you fall in love with the people you fall in love with?' You look into the eyes of somebody, you feel their soul, you feel touched by them — that's it. Sometimes I would just close my eyes and just think, 'Why isn't my kitchen filled with dancing children?' There's so many children that need a home," she recalled at the time. "I thought, 'What am I waiting for? Just do it.'"
And what about the older siblings? How did they learn to accept that their adopted siblings were now part of their big family? "There might have been [a feeling of], 'Oh, we have to share you with more people' — not jealousy, but an adjustment. Eventually, everyone was supportive. Lola said, 'Mom, if that's what you want and it's going to make you happy, let's go.'" Since bringing Estere and Stella home in February 2017, she pointed out, "It's like they were always here. It didn't take long for them to get acclimated." The adoption process she confessed was just as tough. She added, "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. It’s complicated, but it’s so worth it."
References:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/madonna_n_1244961
https://people.com/parents/madonna-life-six-kids-adoption-journey-complicated-worth-it/
Cover Image Source: Instagram | Madonna
