Madonna is obsessed with her six children!
The music icon had twins Stella and Estere as well as Rocco, David, Mercy, and Lourdes before welcoming her first kid, Lourdes, in 1996.
On the cover of PEOPLE in 2017, Madonna talked openly about her experience with adoption as well as her life at home with her kids.
“I would occasionally close my eyes and wonder, “Why isn’t my kitchen packed with dancing kids?” There are so many kids who need homes “She spoke. “What am I waiting for? I asked myself. Simply do it.”
Madonna talked about how she had a bond with her children right away. It’s mysterious, she said. “It’s comparable to asking, “Why do you fall in love with the individuals you do?” It only takes one look into someone’s eyes to feel their soul and be touched by them.”
In December 2020, the “Like a Virgin” singer inked the initials of each of her six children on her wrist as a tribute to them all. Madonna most recently travelled to Italy with her children in August 2022 to celebrate her 64th birthday. She posted a photo of herself and her kids posing during the celebrations, “Tanti auguri (good birthday).”
To learn more about each of Madonna’s adored children, keep scrolling.
On October 14, 1996, in Los Angeles, Madonna welcomed Lourdes Leon into the world with her then-husband, fitness instructor Carlos Leon. Madonna’s eldest child has always been the centre of her universe. For her firstborn, Madonna penned “Little Star,” a song from her 1998 Grammy-winning album Ray of Light.
Lourdes has worked for brands like Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Swarovski, Mugler, and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty line. She has also been featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair. She is now a prominent fashion model in her own right.
Although she acknowledges that when she was a child, her renowned mother was “a control freak,” she has subsequently grown to respect “how inspiring to other women and ahead of her time she has always been.”
She admitted to Interview Magazine in 2021, “I didn’t really understand that until I grasped the meaning of empowerment and what it means to be a woman. “She works as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen. Sadly, I did not inherit that. I didn’t get her work ethic, but I did get her control issues!”
Lourdes followed in her mother’s footsteps by releasing her debut song, “Lock&Key,” in August 2022.
Madonna uploaded a video to Instagram to mark her daughter’s 26th birthday in October 2022. A shot of the mother and daughter as a little child sitting on Madonna’s lap was included in the video, which was paired to her song “Little Star.” The singer wished Lourdes Maria a happy birthday in the caption. I’m so proud of the person you’ve become as a woman, an artist, and a human.
Never forget who you are, tiny STAR…….shining brighter than all the Stars in the Sky @lourdesleon, she said as her final words in the post.
Lourdes made a fashion statement at the Brooklyn Museum’s opening of the Thierry Mugler: Couturissime exhibition on Nov. 15, 2022 by donning a sheer black catsuit by Mugler. She added a cross as an accessory to the gown, paying homage to her mother’s famous “Like A Prayer” period.
Madonna started dating filmmaker Guy Ritchie in 1998 after divorcing Carlos Leon in May 1997. Their son, Rocco Ritchie, was christened in Scotland at Dornoch Cathedral in December 2000 after being born in Los Angeles on August 11, 2000. The following day at Skibo Castle, Madonna and Ritchie exchanged vows; nevertheless, they later separated in 2008.
“She is a good parent. She is stern but in a positive way “In 2012, Rocco spoke to Ellen DeGeneres about his mother. He was touring with Madonna at the time and finishing his schoolwork with a tutor, but he later made the decision to move in with his father and attend a conventional school in London. The two were back on good terms by June 2016 despite the fact that it led to some conflict between Rocco and his mother and a custody dispute between Madonna and Guy.
On August 28, 2012, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rocco Ritchie and Madonna gave a performance as part of the MDNA North America tour’s opening act at the Wells Fargo Center.
For her son’s 21st birthday, Madonna wrote, “We have travelled the world together on many occasions, but the greatest journey I have taken with you is the one inside my.” “To the moon and back, I love you. Always and forever.”
After posing with his mother for a spread in Love magazine and making an appearance in her “Bitch I’m Madonna” music video, Rocco is now a model and actor. Madonna hosted a family-friendly celebration for Rocco on his 22nd birthday in August 2022, where he celebrated with his siblings and sliced into a genuine briefcase-shaped cake.
David Banda was born on September 24, 2005, in Malawi.
In October of the same year that she established Raising Malawi, Madonna travelled to Malawi on a humanitarian mission. She and Ritchie made the decision to adopt 1-year-old David while they were there from the Home of Hope orphanage in Lilongwe, the country’s capital.
The pair had to deal with legal implications because adoption in Malawi is only permitted if the adoptive parents had been residents for at least 18 months. On May 28, 2008, the adoption was formally granted.
On May 28, 2022 in New York City, David Banda and Madonna watch the WBA World Lightweight Championship title fight between Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Madonna gave British Vogue an explanation of her unique relationship with David in 2019. He’s the one I relate to the most, she declared. He has more of my DNA than any of my children to date, so I feel like he understands me.
As he’s gotten older, David has frequently been a part of Madonna’s performances. In June 2022, he was on stage with her for her New York City Pride variety event and demonstrated some dance routines and humour.
On December 3, 2016, in Miami Beach, Florida, David Banda and Madonna attended her Evening of Music, Art, Mischief, and Performance to Benefit Raising Malawi at Faena Forum.
“I find it hard to believe you’ve developed into this young guy. this musician. this sportsman. This intelligent and engaging individual, “On his 16th birthday, she wrote. “Who could have imagined that you would develop into such a force of nature when I first met you at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Malawi, sipping coke from a baby bottle and without using diapers? Happy 16th birthday! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤 I’m really pleased with you!”
During a guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in August 2022, Madonna also commended her son’s sense of style.
She said of David, “He can put on any clothes and look slick as you know what.” “It truly aggravates me. He dresses in my clothes and looks better. He may even look butch while wearing a dress.”
The singer of Material Girl went all out to celebrate David’s 17th birthday. She hosted a disco-themed party for him and took him to a Harry Styles performance in New York.
“You My Ride or Die, David Banda, Happy 17th Birthday!” In a post on Instagram, Madonna.
Chifundo “Mercy” James was born on January 22, 2006, in Malawi. Madonna and Ritchie divorced in 2008, and in May 2009, Madonna submitted an application to adopt Mercy, a single mother, from an orphanage in Blantyre, Malawi. The High Court first denied her request, but on June 12, 2009, she received approval to adopt Mercy.
After giving a statement during the Mercy James Children’s Hospital opening event at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, on July 11, 2017, Madonna (L) embraces her Malawian adoptive daughter Mercy James. On July 11, Madonna returned to Malawi with her four adopted children to celebrate the opening of a paediatric hospital wing that her organisation, AMOS, built. GUMULIRA/AFP
The first paediatric surgery and intensive care facility in Malawi, the Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, was inaugurated by Madonna in July 2017.
In January 2022, Mercy celebrated her 16th birthday at a Tupac Shakur exhibit at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Madonna wished Chifundo Mercy James a happy birthday on Instagram. “The world’s most compassionate, thoughtful, and magical girl! Nobody can compare to you!”
Twins on Madonna’s Instagram On August 24, 2012, Stella and Estere were born in Malawi. In February 2017, Madonna adopted her youngest daughters when they were 5 years old.
According to the Swept Away actor, “It’s like they were always here.” “It didn’t take them long to grow used to it.”
They have gradually come to understand that I am their mother, and nothing can change that, she continued.
The girls have identified their interests and skills as they have developed. Stella’s piano prowess has been showcased by Madonna; both of the sisters are skilled dancers like their older brother.
The “Material Girl” singer posted a romantic Instagram slideshow in honour of the twins’ 10th birthday in August 2022. “Happy birthday to Stella Mwale and Estere! You two enrich all of our lives with such love, laughter, and light! “She wrote the post’s caption.
To commemorate the event, Madonna also hosted an extravagant wig party for the girls. The delighted mother posted pictures from the celebration on Instagram, one of which showed the twins standing with their brothers Mercy and David while decked up in holiday wigs.