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Enduring pop icon and Savior-incarnate Madonna has made good on her promise to heal, school, and feed 1000 Malawi orphans, an African country she carefully chose by shutting her eyes and stopping a spinning globe in the drawing room of her English manor house with a lucky riding crop. But not satisfied to merely ensure the children receive the proper care and a Kabbalah-centric education, the singer, who landed in the capital city of Lilongwe for the first time today, has picked out one lucky orphan to call her "mom":

Government officials said the 48-year-old singer, already a mother of two, chose the one-year-old orphan from among 12 children specially chosen prior to her arrival in the country, which has legions of children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

"She asked us to identify boys only, which we have done after visiting four orphanages in Lilongwe," government spokeswoman Adrina Michiela said. Michiela said Madonna had wanted to adopt a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago. [...]

As part of their studies, orphans at the center will be taught a curriculum based on Spirituality for Kids linked to the Kabbalah school of mysticism to which Madonna adheres.

While the article doesn't say how she made the difficult choice—perhaps she lined up the twelve semifinalist orphans in front of the schoolhouse's shiny new blackboard and had them compete in a Vogue-off—we refuse to detract from this exciting news by cynically accusing Madonna of being nothing more than a wanna-Jolie. Sure, there are plenty of local kids who could also have used some decent health care and a loving family, but there's nothing like having an exotic, specially imported orphan around the house to provide a regular reminder of all the good things you've decided to start doing at the age of 47.

UPDATE: Madonna's rep Liz Rosenbaum refutes the adoption story. More after the jump.

People.com is now reporting the adoption story isn't true:

"I can confirm Madonna is in Malawi on a private visit," the singer's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, tells PEOPLE. "She is building an orphanage and child care center and is involved in other initiatives geared toward helping children orphaned by AIDS through the Raising Malawi organization. She has not adopted a baby, despite reports that she has."

While it wouldn't be the first time a reporter has printed rumor as fact, we're leaving the door cracked open that the confusion could be attributable to an eleventh hour buyer's remorse scenario, making it nice to know that Malawi orphanages have a liberal return policy. (Save those receipts!)