Madonna won approval to permanently adopt Malawian two-year-old David Banda today.

A Malawi judge ruled in favour of the pop star and her film director husband, Guy Ritchie, 19 months after the pair obtained an interim adoption order and brought the child to live with them in London. The couple were not in court to hear the decision.

David's birth mother died of Aids when he was one month old. His father, Yohane Banda, felt unable to cope and placed him in an orphanage. Madonna, 49, saw him while reviewing footage for a documentary she produced on Malawian orphans and flew to Africa to meet him.

Last week, the multi-millionaire singer, who also has a seven-year-old son with Ritchie, and an 11-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, said the struggle to adopt David permanently was as painful as giving birth.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, where she unveiled the documentary I Am Because We Are, she said she had struggled to deal with media interest and opposition to the adoption: “I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains, dealing with the press on my doorstep, accusing me of kidnapping or whatever you want to call it. But I had to go through some kind of process and in the end it made me stronger so I can't complain."

The singer used the festival press conference to deny accusations that she had used her wealth and status to fast-track David’s adoption: "There is nothing controversial about the adoption. It is just there's a lot of bureaucracy and administration. This adoption essentially was the beginning of the creation of adoption laws in Malawi. I am the template or the role model so to speak for future adoptions."

She said she hoped her experience would make the process easier for other people: "I am happy to be a guinea pig.”

Malawi is one of Africa's poorest countries and is badly affected by Aids, while Madonna is one of the world's richest women. She and Ritchie are estimated to share a £300 million fortune.

Last year, the perennial chart-topper signed a history-breaking £60 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation, and last month her latest album shot to the top of the UK and US charts, breaking a plethora of records.

She will launch a world tour in Cardiff in August.

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