Madonna Defends Adopting From Outside The Country

It's been more than a year since Madonna had decided to adopt a Malawian boy, but she is still being hounded with controversies.

British child psychologist Professor Ken Browne has recently accused the pop superstar of encouraging people to travel abroad to adopt, at the expense of needy children closer to him.

He has made headlines by dubbing the trend as the "Madonna effect."

But Madonna insists her adoptive son David Banda would have died if she hadn't taken him under her care.

She tells New York magazine, "That's a grumpy person. You know, there isn't an AIDS crisis in England. Yes, there are children that need to be adopted here [in America] and in the U.K., but no one's going to die in an orphanage in America."

Madonna has filed for adoption for David in October 2006, which raised public controversy as the Malawian government requires at least one year of residence for potential adoptive parents.