Madonna Celebrates Thanksgiving with All Six of Her Children

Madonna had a lot to be thankful for this year, celebrating the holiday with all of her children under one roof.

The pop icon hosted Thanksgiving for her six kids, 26-year-old Lourdes Leon, 22-year-old Rocco Ritchie, 17-year-old David Banda, 16-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James, and 10-year-old twins Estere and Stella. As they were all dressed up for the occasion, the whole family posed for a number of portraits that Madonna then shared on her Instagram account on Friday. The singer started off the post with a photo of herself and her eldest daughter, whom she shares with Carlos Leon, both wearing black corsets. She followed that up with a group photo of the whole family together with Rocco wearing a gray suit, David in a light blue turtleneck, Mercy in a dark green dress, and the twins in black and silver glitter dresses. Madonna captioned the post, “What I’m thankful for.”

Last year, Leon revealed that despite her mom’s edgy public persona, she’s actually a very strict parent. In a profile for Interview magazine, she said that despite being raised by a global pop star, “We don’t get any handouts in my family,” she said. Although, “Obviously, I grew up with extreme privilege. There’s no denying that. But I think my mom saw all these other kids of famous people, and she was like, ‘My kids are not going to be like this.’ Also, I feel like if your parents pay for things, then it gives them leverage over you.”

The Grammy winner adopted David in 2006, Mercy in 2009, and Stella, and Estere in 2017, while Rocco is her biological son with ex-husband Guy Ritchie. In 2017, a few months after adopting her two youngest daughters from Malawi, Madonna opened up about parenting and her growing family to People. When asked what drew her to adopt her children, she said, “It’s inexplicable. 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.” She continued, “Sometimes I would just close my eyes and just think, ‘Why isn’t my kitchen filled with dancing children?’ There’s so many children that need a home. I thought, ‘What am I waiting for? Just do it.’”