Jolie Adopts Vietnamese Boy

ByABC News via logo
March 15, 2007, 8:19 AM

March 15, 2007 — -- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are adding another child to their family.

The Hollywood couple are well-known for their humanitarian work and international adoptions.

Jolie made a special trip to a Vietnam orphanage this week to pick up the child, and is now awaiting a passport from the American consulate so that she can bring home the newest addition to their family.

The pair currently have three kids: biological daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, 10 months old; Maddox Chivan, 5, adopted from Cambodia in 2001; and Zahara Marley, 2, adopted from Ethiopia in 2005.

The latest addition is a 3-year-old boy whose name will be Pax Thien Jolie; in Latin, the name means peaceful sky.

Jolie and Maddox went to the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City this morning. Pitt was not seen in Vietnam.

Pax Thien had lived in the orphanage since infancy. He was abandoned as a newborn at the hospital.

Officials said Jolie greeted the boy with a kiss and a hug. Crying and shy at meeting his mom-to-be, Pax Thien was comforted by Jolie and orphanage officials.

"The truth is that any child who has been without a permanent family for the first three years of life is very lucky to go into a home where he can get the kinds of help that this child will need," said Adam Pertman, the executive director of the Evan B.Donaldson Adoption Institute.

Jolie's new son is said to be healthy, a bit shy and a big fan of soccer. He reportedly loves to play with other children.

Pitt and Jolie made an impromptu visit to the orphanage on Thanksgiving.

In an interview in December, Jolie told Diane Sawyer that she and Pitt were thinking seriously about how to expand their family.

International adoption has become something of a trend among the celebrity set.

In the fall, human rights groups in Malawi protested when Madonna adopted a 1-year-old, saying the rock star had skipped the line and had received favorable treatment.

Jolie said for her, each decision to adopt had been emotional, and she said they were careful to limit their choices to countries with clearly established foreign adoption laws. In 2005, Vietnam started allowing international adoption again after a brief ban.