Madonna and Guy Ritchie get marriage counselling for adoption stress

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have reportedly turned to a marriage counsellor to help work through the problems in their relationship.

The couple were rumoured to have been on the rocks earlier this year but were thought to have put their troubles behind them when they prepared to adopt their now-son David from Malawi - but according to a new source, the adoption put further pressure on their relationship.

The source, claiming to be close to the couple, told the People newspaper: “The marriage is near rock-bottom. They’ve been putting on a united front in public but behind closed doors their marriage has come under strain.”

“The publicity surrounding the adoption has created a difficult atmosphere in their London home. But they are determined to make the marriage work and after a long heart-to-heart they both decided to seek the help of a marriage guidance specialist.”

“Guy and Madonna both dote on little David as one of their own. But it is her attitude that can irritate and upset Guy.”

“She drove the whole adoption process on from start to finish and Guy was left trailing in her slipstream just nodding and going along with things. Matters were not helped when one of their nannies quit her job because she couldn’t stand the tension.”

“Madonna is used to getting her way in everything she does and has admitted being a demanding and difficult employer.”

“The nanny felt she was always treading on egg shells and decided she couldn’t take the stress any more.”

“Although little David has brought a ray of sunshine into the couple’s lives, the strain and pressures of introducing a new child from a different culture into their family has understandably brought additional pressures.”

“Recently Guy lost it big time when Madonna began picking on him about something he hadn’t done to her liking. He thundered back, ‘I’ll get on my bike if you want me to’.”

“She tried to laugh the whole episode off but it was clear he was deadly serious. The bottom line is that Guy sometimes feels he is not allowed to have an opinion.”

And according to the source, Guy does have an opinion he doesn’t want to adopt a second child any time soon: “Guy doesn’t want to go through all the media attention again which he hates.”

“Although he loves little David as his own he thinks they should be both concentrating on their own relationship at this time, not adding a new one.”

“It really is crunch time. Everyone is hoping and praying they hold it together. They love their children too much to throw everything away.”