Starlet daughter of John Voight and well known actress other half of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, was put on the fast track to maternal adoption.
She discreetly arrived in Vietnam late in the evening of March 14 with Cambodian-born son Maddox and collected her soon to be adopted son early the next morning from the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City.
The boy who has been renamed Pax Thien Jolie is almost three-and-a-half years old. He was abandoned at birth and had been living at the orphanage since 2003.
Senior officials admit that the adoption process was sped up, in part, due to Jolie’s star status.
Official adoption papers were filed through an unidentified American agency in early March. Normal adoption processes can usually take up to six months.
Since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt aren’t actually married, it’s illegal for the couple to adopt, but Jolie can adopt as a single person.
There has been much opinion regarding the issue of super stars adopting children from under developed countries, with Madonna’s adoption bringing about massive public scrutiny and debate.
This is not the first adoption for UNHCR Ambassador Angelina Jolie with her aforementioned son Maddox and native Ethiopian daughter Zahara.
Let’s just hope that belonging to such rich and powerful families will eventually give these adopted children the means to return to their original homes and provide their countries with new development.