Madonna Malawi Adoption: Before Twins Esther and Stella, When Did She Adopt Her Children From Africa?

Madonna has been granted permission to adopt twin girls from Malawi, reports said Tuesday, citing the Malawian high court’s adoption order. The pop star, who denied adoption rumors last month, was granted permission to adopt four-year-olds Stella and Esther, whose mother reportedly died in August 2012.

Madonna appeared in the court in Malawian capital Lilongwe with her lawyer alongside the father and the uncle of the children, Malawian judiciary spokesman Mlenga Mvula said.

“[The children’s] mother died a week after she delivered the babies” in August 2012, Mvula told People magazine. “After their mother died, the children were looked after by their grandmother, who could not fully provide for them, so they were taken into an orphanage.”

Following the adoption order, Madonna “exuded happiness” and “she smiled while she was making her way out of the courtroom, and then she drove away” with her new daughters, Mvula told People.

The twins will be adopted from the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinji, near the western border of Zambia, according to the Guardian. A Malawian government official is expected to travel with the 58-year-old singer to the U.S. to make sure she is able to provide a suitable home for Stella and Esther.

Madonna is already a mother to 20-year-old Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leo with her former partner Carlos Leon and has a 16-year-old, named Rocco Ritchie, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.

This is not the first time the singer has adopted children from the African nation. In 2006, she adopted her now 11-year-old son David Banda, and in 2007, Mercy James, who is also 11 years old, from Malawi.

According to the Guardian, people in Malawi have criticized government for exempting Madonna from laws that prevent non-residents from adopting children, and taking them abroad.

“Madonna has demonstrated over the years that she has passion for Malawi and her children, and therefore the court was satisfied and could not stop the adoption of the twins,” Titus Mvalo, a lawyer for Madonna in Malawi, reportedly said.