Madonna described her first meeting with adopted son David on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Wednesday.
And she revealed how she feared for his life because he was desperately ill.
The pop star told Oprah how David was suffering with pneumonia and was fighting for breath.
She was gravely concerned for his health because of the limited medical resources in Malawi, his native country.
Madonna said: "He was extremely ill. He had severe pneumonia and could hardly breathe.
"I was in a panic. I didn't want to leave him in the orphanage because I knew they didn't have medication to take care of him.
"We got permission to take him to a clinic to have a bronchial dilator put on him. He was given an injection of antibiotics.
"He's not completely free of his pneumonia but he's much better than when we found him."
Madonna is also thrilled that her own children, Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, six, have welcomed David into their family and shared images of them together at home on the show.
She added: "The children just embraced him. They never once said, 'What is he doing here?' or mentioned the difference in his colour.
"That's an amazing lesson children teach us."
To see the pictures of the family together, go to the gallery above.
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