The Mr and Mrs Smith actress travelled to five different countries to welcome her six kids
Angelina Jolie is a doting mother to six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 15.
The Tourist actress, 48, chose to adopt her eldest child while she was in a relationship with Billy Bob Thornton, and she later expanded her family by adopting Pax and Zahara with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. They also welcomed their three biological kids Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne before splitting in 2017 after only three years of marriage.
The Mr and Mrs Smith actors finalized their divorce in 2019 following a lengthy custody battle over their kids. Since then, the six children have made several public appearances with their famous mother. See everything you need to know about Tomb Raider star Angelina's birth and adoption stories…
Angelina Jolie's adoption story with Maddox
Angelina became a first-time mom after adopting seven-month-old Maddox in Cambodia in 2002. She had been filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001 when she fell in love with the country and visited the orphanage where he was living.
"In 2001, I was in a school programme in Samlout playing blocks on the floor with a little kid and as clear as day I thought: 'My son is here,'" she told Vogue India. "A few months later I met baby [Maddox] at an orphanage. I can't explain it and am not one to believe in messages or superstition. But it was just real and clear."
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The Salt star became a single parent later that year when she and Billy split.
Angelina Jolie's adoption story with Zahara
Angelina adopted her second child and first daughter, six-month-old Zahara, from Ethiopia in July 2005.
Zahara's grandmother put her up for adoption after struggling to afford to look after the infant, according to Star magazine.
"Mad loves her. When Z came home she was older, she was seven months old, so for Mad it's like having this tiny pet he can just hold and look at. He's great," Angelina told Anderson Cooper at the time.
Angelina and Brad had recently gone public with their relationship following his split from his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston. The Ocean's Eleven actor adopted both Zahara and Maddox at the same time.
Angelina Jolie's adoption story with Pax
Angelina's son Pax became the second oldest child in the family after she adopted him from Vietnam in 2007. At the time, she was already a mother to Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh – and she admitted she had her eldest children to think about before committing to the process.
"I did originally think not to adopt from Vietnam because Mad was Cambodian and the two countries have a complex history," she told Vogue. "I thought of my own country and our involvement in south-east Asia. I thought of focusing on a future where we were all family. Pax is the strength and centre of so much in our lives. I am very blessed to have been allowed to be their mom. I am grateful every day."
The Hollywood star went through the adoption process as a single parent due to a law in Vietnam preventing unmarried couples from co-adopting children. Brad adopted him once they returned to the US in 2008.
Angelina Jolie's birth story with Shiloh
Angelina and Brad's first biological child Shiloh was born in 2006 while the couple were in Namibia. It was not a straightforward birth, with the actress revealing on BBC Radio 4′s Women’s Hour: "I was in breech," which is where the child is positioned feet first instead of head first.
"I needed a C-section, and I knew I was in breech because I had had the money to have an ultrasound. But I found even the local hospital with many, many people, many women — and this was a good hospital — did not have an ultrasound machine," she added.
Angelina Jolie's birth story with Knox and Vivienne
Her birth complications did not put Angelina off getting pregnant again. Two years later, she gave birth to her twins, son Knox and daughter Vivienne, at Lenval Hospital in France.
A statement posted by the hospital at the time confirmed: "The mother and babies are doing very well." Angelina's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Sussmann, also explained she was laughing with her husband while she had a Caesarean to deliver her children, who both weighed around 5 pounds.
"I felt the emotion of both the mother and the father. Angelina Jolie was speaking, was laughing with her husband. They were happy," he told reporters outside the hospital. Explaining the reason for the early C-section, he said the date was moved forward "for medical reasons."
When quizzed about raising her large family following her split from Brad, she told Vogue: "I separated for the wellbeing of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing."
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