Britney makes rare custody showing

Troubled pop star Britney Spears has begun showing up for custody hearings to regain access to her two children with ex-husband Kevin Federline, according to media reports.

The 26 year-old singer, who was barred from seeing her sons earlier this month after refusing to return them to Federline's representatives after a weekend visit, turned up on Monday to give a deposition to
her Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan.

Her friend Sam Lutfi told celebrity TV show Access Hollywood that he expected her to show up for another court hearing on Wednesday where she will appear before a Los Angeles judge to ask for her visitation rights to be restored.

Kaplan told Web site People.com that getting Spears' deposition has been an "emotionally difficult experience that has only just begun."

"We are going over things that are very, very gut-wrenching," he told People.com.

Spears has a spotty record with past deposition dates in the custody case over the couple's sons, 1-year-old Jayden James and two-year-old Sean Preston.

Spears lost custody last year after stints in rehab and a series of strange episodes including shaving her head, appearing in public without underwear, and attacking a car driven by paparazzi with an umbrella.

But she lost access to the boys after refusing to hand them over earlier this month. Police were called and paramedics had to take the distraught singer away on a stretcher. She was hospitalised for two days.

Kaplan is expected to grill Spears about past drug and alcohol use, her failure to comply with court orders and any other subject relating to her fitness as a parent.

He told People.com that Monday's two hour hearing only worked through "two percent" of his questions and there will be more depositions. But he said he was heartened by the idea of having the meeting.

"She came for her deposition, that's great. Showing up is form over substance," he said.

Spears became a pop phenomenon nine years ago and enjoyed a brief comeback in October with her new single, Game More, and an album Blackout that hit No. 2 in the US charts.