Don't let Madonna adopt your twins! Family of Mercy, 10, warn girls' father: You'll never see them again 

• Madonna wants to adopt Esther and Stella Mwale, 4, from a Malawi orphanage
• Mercy's uncle told twins's dad: 'It will be as if your children have died'
• Peter Banet said he has not seen Mercy since she was adopted by the singer 

The family of the four-year-old twins who Madonna wants to adopt from Malawi were last night urged not to let the children go.

The warning came from the relatives of Mercy James, who was adopted by the singer eight years ago in Malawi.

In a message to the twins’ family, Mercy’s uncle, Peter Banet, said: ‘You may never see your children again, never have contact with them. It will be as if your children have died. That is the pain we feel every day.’

A judge is still considering the fate of Esther and Stella Mwale, who Madonna is seeking to adopt from an orphanage. The case should be decided within the next two weeks.

Mr Banet signed consent papers in 2009 allowing Madonna to adopt Mercy, the daughter of his 14-year-old sister, Mwandida, who died days after giving birth.

The family now say they were tricked into believing Mercy would stay in contact with them and even return home one day.

They maintain they bitterly regret letting Madonna take her. Mr Banet fears that if the star succeeds in her effort to adopt Esther and Stella, the twins’ family will suffer a similar fate.

Recalling the decision he made in 2009, he said: ‘I put my hand up in court, swore an oath and signed the adoption consent. I can never forgive myself for that, and there is sadness and disappointment throughout my family. I have to take the blame. I am ashamed.’

He said the family had not seen Mercy since the day Madonna took her to New York later that year. Mercy, now ten, has been taken to Malawi on ‘cultural visits’ by Madonna but her family has never been informed.

Fisherman Mr Banet said he would advise the twin girls’ father, Adam, that if he hands his children over to Madonna, he must be prepared to lose them permanently.

Asked if he had a message for Mr Mwale, he said: ‘If you agree to the adoption you will need all your strength. You will need to face the future as if your children are dead and gone.’

Mr Banet said no money was given to his family after Mercy was adopted. But the singer impressed Malawian government officials with plans for new schools and a charity to help the poor.

Hard-nosed judge who stands in star's way 

This is the formidable judge who will decide whether Madonna can take more children from Malawi for adoption.

British-educated Fiona Mwale halted the singer’s plans to take twins Esther and Stella Mwale (no relation to the judge) to New York ten days ago.

Postponing her decision, she said she needed more time to review the matter.

The judge, chairman of Malawi’s Child Case Review Board and a fearsome campaigner for justice for minors, gained a law degree at Leeds University, a Masters at Warwick and her Post-Graduate Diploma from Nottingham. 

The mother of a severely disabled child, she is passionate about reforms to help vulnerable children.

Campaigners opposed to Madonna adopting children from poor families hope Judge Mwale will repeat a 2009 decision which blocked the singer from taking Mercy James. 

Although later overturned, the ruling said a foreign applicant must have a permanent residence in Malawi and live there for at least 18 months before adopting.

She also paid £20,000 to the then Ministry of Women, Gender and Child Welfare for one of its social welfare officers to study at Swansea University. As well as Mercy, Madonna has a second adopted Malawian child, David Banda, who has had contact with his birth family during his time with the singer.

On one of her return visits to Malawi in 2015, Madonna took Mercy to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, the country’s second largest city, where they launched a project to build the Mercy James paediatric surgical ward. Mercy’s family knew nothing about it until they were shown photographs in a local newspaper.

Mr Banet said: ‘We want to ask Madonna, “Do you not care at all about Mercy’s family? Her family is here, alive, and we want to see her and talk to her”.

‘We appeal to anyone, in the government or in Madonna’s employment, to help us be in touch with Mercy again. 

'We are glad that she is getting a good education, of course. That is a positive thing. 

'But we are her birth family, her blood relatives, and we don’t even know where she is. No one is listening to us. We have been very badly deceived.’ 

The twins Madonna is hoping to adopt have five siblings. 

Their mother Patricia – described in her rural village as ‘a sweet, very kind and helpful lady’ – died after losing a lot of blood while giving birth to the twins by Caesarean section.

Village chief Kayembe said: ‘All of us mourned Patricia when this terrible thing happened. Adam did the best thing he could for the twins.

‘He is a hard-working man who takes his children to church every Sunday. He has a small-holding with maize and some livestock and manages to make a living.

‘We don’t know much about this Madonna woman. We only know she is a musician and very rich.

‘I just heard that she is nearly 60 and she has boyfriends half her age, and that her own son does not want to live with her. That is making us worried – it’s not acceptable.’

The girls are staying at an unknown location with carers while their future is decided.