Madonna's adopted twins don't know she's a superstar

Madonna's newly adopted twins Estere and Stelle have no idea their mother is one of the world's biggest popstars.

The 59-year-old musician adopted the five-year-old girls from Malawi in February (17), having also adopted her children David and Mercy, both 11, from the same country.

While the twins have settled into her family well, Madonna now claims that they have no idea she's famous.

"They don't have a clue," she told People magazine. "And that's a good thing. I'm just their mother."

Estere and Stelle are apparently fans of the soundtracks to animated musical movies Moana and Sing, but were shocked when their mother's 1983 hit Holiday was played on the radio and David told his new sisters it was her song.

Although she loves being a mother, Madonna says the media reaction to her bringing her son David home from Malawi to London in 2008 took its toll on her.

"Every newspaper said I kidnapped him," she explained of reports that she was taking David, who suffered from pneumonia as a baby, away from his homeland and family. "In my mind, I was thinking, 'Wait a minute. I'm trying to save somebody's life. Why are you all s**tting on me right now?' I did everything by the book. That was a real low point for me. I would cry myself to sleep."

In 2009, Madonna adopted Mercy after initially being blocked by Malawian officials, a decision she blames on sexist attitudes towards her after she divorced filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

"(Malawian officials thought) I was not capable of raising a child," she shared. "The way I was treated - that sexist behaviour - was ridiculous," added Madonna, who successfully challenged their refusal in Malawi's Supreme Court.

The star, who also has two biological children, Lourdes, 20, and Rocco, 17, also puts her harsh treatment down to her fame, adding, "Because I'm a public figure, people don't want to be perceived as giving me any kind of special treatment, so I get the hard road."

Madonna recently moved her brood to Lisbon, Portugal to enable David to enrol in soccer club Benfica's youth academy. musicnews.com