Madonna is sharing a rare look inside the life of her twin daughters, Estere and Stella. The pop icon is opening up about the charity work her family does, including her daughters' relationship with Malawi, the country where the two were born and adopted from in 2017.
"The girls have a lot of empathy for vulnerable children in need of life-saving medical care and they are very grateful to be living in a country where medical care is readily available for people," said Madonna to PEOPLE.
Madonna has been working for years with Raising Malawi, an organization she founded in 2006 with the hopes of providing healthcare, education, and more to kids in need in the area.
It was through this organization that she met her daughters, resulting in their adoption in February 2017.
“We are so much closer because we have a common goal, and that is making Malawi a better country for kids to grow up,” she said.
Around that time, Madonna opened the first pediatric hospital in the country, called the Mercy James Centre.
Madonna's decision to embrace adoption
Over the years Madonna has opened up about her kids and her decision to adopt. In an interview with PEOPLE in 2017, she discussed the experience of adopting a child and knowing that you want to have them in your life and become their parent. “It’s inexplicable,” she said.
“It’s like saying, ‘Why do you fall in love with the people you fall in love with?’ You look into the eyes of somebody, you feel their soul, you feel touched by them — that’s it.”
Madonna has two biological children, Lourdes, 28, and Rocco, 24, and five adopted ones, including David Banda and Mercy James, who are both 19. Stella and Stere are 12 and have joined their mother on plenty of trips and adventures, including various concert performances of Madonna's Celebration tour.