Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie plan to take over the world.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are planning a massive brood of adopted children, according to the actress’ brother James Haven. Haven claims Jolie and Pitt are blissfully happy with baby Shiloh and her adopted siblings Maddox, Zahara and Pax – and both want to carry on adding to their family.
He says Pitt has grown into his role as a father, suggesting the superstar was reluctant at first. Haven tells Grazia magazine, “He has changed so much. He’s completely involved, he loves the children and is terrific with them. There is no limit on the children she and Brad are adopting. It could be scores. I’ve never heard an end number in their conversations.”
April 4th, 2007 at 11:18 am
its better Brad&Angie adopting than that Jessica Simpson and Mariah
April 4th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Everyday non-celebrities adopt broods of children and it’s not big story.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
That’s very altruistic. However, the more the number grows the less individual attention they will will receive directly from their parents and I don’t mean the nannies. I was one of seven and I was hardpressed to get my mom’s attention. I always wished for a smaller family. Having alot of siblings has good points but mostly bad.
I guess it’s alot better than living at an orphanage.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I am an adopted person who comes from a family of adopted kids. Some of us were adopted as babies, some as young children. I wasn’t really paying attention to this story until the Pax incident.
Now, I don’t know the whole story and I could be wrong, but I was horrified by what I saw. First off, Ang went to Vietnam and, within a couple days, swooped this child out of the only home he’d known. Why not a gradual transition? She can afford to stay there a few weeks. And the name change… That really hurt my heart. When my brother came to us from his fifth foster home at age 8, all he had was his name. My parents would not have dreamed of taking this last shred of identity connection.
And then this talk of continued adoption… Adoption is an institution not to be underestimated in its complexity and demands. We children of adoption need special care and attention from our parents. We often need social workers and therapists. We’re often terrified that you don’t love us, that you’ll leave us. We learn how to thrive by having rigid structure in our lives. With consistancy, we know we are finally safe.
Being dragged halfway around the world every two minutes and dealing new sibs every nine months is not an ideal environment. Sure, Ang & Brad are rich. These kids will have all the material goods and certainly a better life than in an orphanage. But that doesn’t make it a great life.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Would you rather the child stay in an orphanage, with no sense of paternal love, and care? People rant so much. Take a look at what is best for the child. Orphanages are no proper place to grow. You have to learn to accept the lesser of two problems. So what, she didn’t stay? At least it is obvious that she has good intentions. That means more than a cold bed in someone’s homeland any day.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
“And then this talk of continued adoption… Adoption is an institution not to be underestimated in its complexity and demands. We children of adoption need special care and attention from our parents. We often need social workers and therapists. We’re often terrified that you don’t love us, that you’ll leave us. We learn how to thrive by having rigid structure in our lives. With consistancy, we know we are finally safe.”
Thank you, Tam. Brad and Angelina must read this paragraph of yours. It says everything.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Tam, I wholeheartedly agree. While I appreciate their actions, I think it’s time to slow down and just raise the 4 kids you have. And I agree, I think changing the kid’s name was just messy!
April 4th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Tam, your comments were spot on. Thank you. It’s refreshing to hear from someone who has actually been through the process of adoption. Thanks again. Your comments are the best, by far, on any blog that I’ve read…
April 4th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Hi, Tam, I just wanted to say that I think Angelina first met Pax last October. I DO believe her application was fast-tracked because of who she is, but at the same time I think she still passed the checks she had to. It must be a lot easier to adopt a child from a developing country than the developed countries where we live. She IS adding to her family a bit quickly, but she’s not stupid, she wouldn’t intentionally not give her kids a ‘home’… plus Brad’s there to keep things in check and they do see his parents!
I’ve already heard that Angelina wants another ‘black face’ so Zahara doesn’t feel excluded, which would be a bit much! Watch this space if she adopts another African in the next year (somehow I don’t think she’ll go with an older kid again immediately)!
But somehow, Angelina’s only 31 or 32… I think she’ll settle down, rather than having a brood of 20 by the time she’s 40!
April 4th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Nice to see that she doesn’t give a crap about her sole biological child feeling alienated with all these other purchases getting more attention than her…
What an ass.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Tam and fellow posters. If you want to know the real story about Angelina’s adoption of Pax, then you should check out http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=471. Or you can go to http://www.rainbowkids.com and search for the “Angelina Jolie’s Adoption” article. It’s very enlightening.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:18 am
Tam being adopted doesn’t immune you from common sense. Your first lie was that Ang just went there and took the boy out, do a little research before you post lies on the web. She first saw the boy in November with Brad, again in January and February before the final process last month.
Most of you judgemental, brainless people on blogs, writing about what you don’t know. She can afford to take care of her children between her, Brad, his parents and some nannies. I don’t see anybody criticizing Heidi Klum who has had three children in three years, or Sharon Stone adopting as a single mother at almost 50yrs, oh I forgot, she is adopting white kids so she is not crazy, but Angelina is crazy because she is building her family inter racially.
Most of you try to compare your dreadful, miserable lives to these children, their lives’ worst experience will be the best experience you have ever had, so as she adopts more and have more biololgical children, you seethe because you know you can never manage life the way she does, it must be shitty being unloved as children and having shitty lives.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:54 am
I’m with you @ Ednonymous!
April 5th, 2007 at 9:51 am
I don’t think that Angelina Jolie wanted to hurt Pax. She really wanted to protect him. Here an explanation written by a person observed the “Media’s Obsession”:
Everyone, including my own mother, knows by now that Angelina Jolie traveled to Vietnam in March and adopted a 3-year-old little boy from the Tam Binh orphanage in Vietnam . The world seems glued to the drama of this mega-star and her adoption of her son,. Pax Thien Jolie.
There’s been quite an uproar in the adoption community. Email lists, bulletin boards and phones are alight with questions and speculation. And yet the general press appears frequently to get the story half-right, or never to address the questions closest to our hearts. We adoptive families are both part of the general populace, and also a world unto ourselves. The masses may wonder about this movie-star-mom growing her family in ‘alternate’ ways, while the adoptive community hosts quite a different range of inquiries. Questions such as:
Did Angelina choose her child? (the answer is no )
Why did Angelina only spend a week in Vietnam while other adoptive families spend 2-3 weeks processing their paperwork?
How did Angelina adopt a child as a single parent when she was living with Brad Pitt?
Did Angelina pay to expedite her adoption?
Are Brad and Angelina adopting to expand their fame?
In the big picture, there is one side of this story; the story the entire world will hear and unfortunately, believe. In our world, there is the following story. One which involves most of those involved in this adoption and which I know to be the truth after talking to many of the parties involved. But first, let us be fair and address the history of this situation. In the end, all of the questions will be answered.
The unfortunate tabloid-fueled presentation to the world is this: Angelina Jolie: Movie Star and Collector of Children , went to Vietnam on a whim, ended up arbitrarily visiting an orphanage in November of 2006, picked out a child to add to her string of multicultural kids, and paid bribes to the Vietnamese government and to an US adoption agency to make it happen fast.
This is clichéd fiction that people accumulatively pay millions in magazine prices to read.
The truth is, Angelina Jolie is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador and mother of 4, three through adoption. As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina uses her status as a superstar to generate media coverage about the plight of refugees and the conditions under which they live. She has traveled widely to remote refugee camps and receiving centers in countries including Tanzania, Namibia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Ecuador.
She has met thousands of men, women, and children forced to flee from their homes and struggle to survive as refugees. “You go to these places and you realize what life’s really about and what people are really going through,” says Angelina. “These people are my heroes.”
As adoptive parents, knowing this about Ms. Jolie, why wouldn’t we understand her desire, on a much more private level, to make a difference in the lives of the children that she so often witnessed suffering?
When adopting Maddox, Ms. Jolie had been filming in Cambodia for nearly a year; Living and working day-by-day with the people of that country. Nothing actually divides Ms. Jolie from any of us, except that generally Americans have grown used to our movie stars being dysfunctional, political, self-aggrandizing personalities. So how do we handle a mega-star adopting? A truly crazy-famous, strong, intelligent activist woman who chooses to build her life and family in her own style?
I believe the answer is: we follow her example. We embrace that which does no harm, but only seeks to promote the welfare of children. Many will argue that adopting as an unmarried couple negates the good of giving a child a family. Though on one side this may appear to be a moral issue, the question also must be asked, Who will parent all the children in orphanages?
Surely, loving this or any child cannot be wrong. And legally, since Ms. Jolie is not married she had to adopt as a single parent. Vietnamese law states that you have to be single or a married couple (man/woman) – since she isn’t married she had to adopt single. The requirements of Vietnam do not state that you can’t live with anyone. Each agency must make their own choice of whom they will accept as applicants. And each family must also choose: how will they grow?
For Ms. Jolie and Mr. Brad Pitt, the answer has been more complicated than what the world may view as ‘normal’. But as adoptive parents, how can we not embrace their choices? After visiting numerous orphanages and privately saying to myself, “If only I had the finances,” and finding myself wanting to do so much more, I know I am not alone in understanding how someone could choose this eclectic but fulfilling way to build a family. How much more so it must be for someone who regularly travels to refugee homes and orphanages to do humanitarian work?
However, the world press, those who crushed her windshield while in Vietnam, attacked her car, released private information to the world including her new son’s passport and her adoption papers, they aren’t interested in you hearing about her good works. The supported schools, AIDS programs, new water wells or medical programs for orphans. You’ve heard their version of this story already.
Now I’m going to tell you the real story.
In the early summer of 2006, Ms. Angelina Jolie: Mother, Partner and parent with Brad Pitt, movie star and humanitarian worker was visiting with her daughter Zahara’s pediatrician, Dr. Jane Aronson.
Ms. Jolie had already gone through the homestudy process, approving her to adopt internationally. Dr. Jane is the founder of Worldwide Orphans Foundation (did you really think I could resist a plug for a wonderful charity?) which has done amazing work with orphans in Ethiopia . Dr. Jane has also adopted from Vietnam and Ethiopia . However the conversation may have gone, a call was soon made to the Pennsylvania adoption agency, Adoptions from the Heart .
“It was truly fate,” Vietnam adoption coordinator for AFTH Heidi Gonzalez reports. “This 3-year-old boy from Vietnam had been living in his orphanage since shortly after his birth. Our agency had (just prior to Ms. Jolie’s inquiry) recently received his referral and the report of what a wonderful little boy he is. His file was on my desk at the moment I received the call. Despite what others may believe, this was the first and only child presented to Ms. Jolie. It was meant to be.”
Adoptions from the Heart accepted the challenging opportunity to assist this young boy in finding his family. “We have been working with Vietnam since 1995. There were years when we supported the children and orphanages when adoption was closed to the US . Every child is precious to us, and we work for the best interest of each child, regardless of whether or not adoption is in his or her future,” Ms. Gonzalez stated.
In November of 2006, Ms. Jolie visited her son’s orphanage, though she knew her adoption was months away from being complete. “She chose to visit the toddler room in general, not to single him out,” shared Ms. Gonzalez, “in January she knew it was getting close, and she visited individually with Pax to begin the bonding process.” By this time, the Vietnam government had Ms. Jolie’s CIS approval and the first leak of the adoption had reached the world-wide press.
“Before that time, there were only two people in our office who knew of the adoption. Her file was kept under lock and key in my office,” said Ms. Gonzalez. Security, lawyers, hand-carrying documents and working with personal assistants were the norm. So, was this adoption that much different from others?
“Looking back, I guess you might see it that way. But on a day-to-day basis, not really. We had a single mom who was focused on her child. She wanted to make sure he was cared for and safe and the side-bar was keeping the news of the adoption from the media. She was doing a movie in India for part of the process and on a few hours notice she would fly in, exhausted, to re-do fingerprints or do one last homestudy update,” said Ms. Gonzalez, “The biggest difference was when it was time to travel for the actual adoption. We had to work with her security team and Vietnam, run through the process with them for when she would arrive, look at the security risks in each location and figure out how to minimize any problems. That was definitely different.”
The hardest part for everyone involved materialized in Ho Chi Minh City . The reports of the ridiculous actions of the press were understated. They attacked her car, breaking the windshield, attempting to puncture the tires in order to take more photos, relentlessly invading the cherished time that most adoptive parents, and presumably Ms. Jolie as well, see as priceless: That in-country bonding week or two. It was not possible to be just another adoptive parent. She had to be Angelina Jolie The Movie Star . Her adoption signing was accompanied by the Vietnamese press, she was requested to submit to being interviewed by a Vietnamese government newspaper just hours after receiving her son, and gracefully accepted being photographed for hours with government officials. She was there to adopt a childa private personal experience that was very special to her and to all adoptive parents.
And she missed it. She didn’t get that precious, private experience.
“She really had no problem doing interviews or sharing her photos. She had her own photographer with her, and simply asked that the privacy of all her children be respected. She wanted to have the process be special and private for her family. Unfortunately she didn’t have that opportunity,” said Ms. Gonzalez.
Imagine if you were in a taxi with your newest child on your lap, your cherished toddler to whom you had longed to show your love and bring into your family. Strangers were attacking the car, their mouths screaming, faces contorted, and cameras flashing into the cab of the vehicle. The world appears to desire to blame the Star. The person who wishes to build her family in a similar way that we adoptive-families build our own.
Are we part of that world? As individuals in the adoption community, we should band together and support all people who build their families through adoption.
Although accused of requesting and receiving preferential treatment due to only spending one week in Vietnam after the adoption of Pax (the normal time is 2 1/2 weeks), the truth is that the Vietnamese passport office processed Pax’s passport in one day due to the media’s outrageous and destructive behavior. Ms. Jolie and her family left only after it was apparent that there would be no ability to explore Vietnam as a family, and airline ticket dates were changed for everyone.
The final question, the one many silently contemplate is this:
“What sort of Normal life will Pax Thien Jolie, or any of the children of Mega Movie Stars, live?”
I imagine that it will not be ‘normal’, as I or many others may see it. Or maybe it will. It all depends on how you look at the situation. But is that so terrible? Millions of people live normal lives. They’re not UN representatives. They don’t raise funds for AIDS orphans in Ethiopia, or drill wells for clean drinking water. I know of lots of normal and not-so-normal people who are to be admired. But the ones I respect most, all seem to have the same name and title:
Mom.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Anything she does is for attention and nothing else. She uses these kids for her own satisfaction. She has a black soul and not able to love so these kids will never know what it’s like to have a mothers love.
April 5th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Attention, YOU are the one with a black soul. I feel sorry for you. You wish you had just a fraction of the love that Angie will give her children. What a world we live in when those that love and do good are criticized and maligned. Thank God Angie lives her life above the fray and cares not what they small minded haters in this world think.
Thank you Phong and Truth for printing the truth. I wish more people would read this and not get their information from tabloids.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
I applaud them for their efforts. Adoption is always about what is best for children and not for altruistic purposes for adults/ Adopted children often have special needs–learning disabilities, mental illness, and developmental disabilities are common. My hope is that this couple is ready to embrace any and all life changing challenges which may lie ahead.