Angelina Jolie opened up about the importance of honoring her three adopted children’s roots in an interview with Vogue on Friday.
When asked about navigating raising adopted and biological siblings together, the 45-year-old Maleficent actresses spoke of respecting all of her children’s cultural heritages.
‘Each is a beautiful way of becoming family. What is important is to speak with openness about all of it and to share. ‘Adoption’ and ‘orphanage’ are positive words in our home,’ the Oscar winner explained.
She added: ‘With my adopted children, I can’t speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for the first time.’
Additionally, she noted that ‘adopted children come with a beautiful mystery of a world that is meeting yours.’
‘When they are from another race and foreign land, that mystery, that gift, is so full,’ she said of her experience.
Before giving birth to her three youngest children Shiloh, 12, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11, Jolie became a mom to Maddox, 18, Pax, 16 and Zahara, 15, through adoption.
She also stressed her belief that non-biological children should never ‘lose touch with where they came from.’
‘They have roots that you do not. Honor them. Learn from them. It’s the most amazing journey to share,’ the humanitarian urged.
In the same interview, the movie star spoke of ending her marriage to Brad Pitt, who she met in 2004 on the set of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, for the ‘well-being’ of kids.
‘It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds,’ she told the outlet.
She went on to describe her children as ‘six very brave, very strong young people.’
They former power couple married in August 2014 after 10 years together; Angelina filed for divorce in September 2016.
In 2016, Brad and Maddox allegedly got into an argument on a private jet while on the way to Los Angeles, which led to Angelina filing for divorce that year. Brad was later cleared of any wrongdoing in November 2016.
Soon after, the judge granted Angelina physical custody of all six kids with Brad continue to have agreed-upon therapeutic visitations with the kids.
However, Brad wanted more time with the kids and continued to request it; by December 2016, he requested an emergency hearing to seal all documents surrounding the case, which was denied.
By January 2017, they agreed to keep their court documents private in a joint statement but by June 2018, they headed back to court after Angelina was ordered by a judge to help repair Brad’s relationship with the kids.
He was given more time with the kids, according to Entertainment Tonight.
By August, Angelina accused him of not paying ‘meaningful’ child support in 1.5 years, which he denied and claimed he paid over $9 million to her since their split, reported the outlet.
By September, Angelina reportedly reached out to him to improve their co-parenting relationship.
A judge granted them both legal single status on April 12, 2019 while finalizing their divorce.
The former lovebirds have agreed on a custody agreement for their kids and are sorting out property and finances, specifically who gets Miraval, their French winery and the place they tied the knot.
According to The Blast, Brad filed documents to the court asking to appoint a private judge to enable their discussions to continue, a request the star agreed with.
The LA County Court agreed, as long as the pair paid for the judge’s time themselves, and a stipulation order was put in place to ‘Extend Appointment of Privately Compensated Temporary Judge.’
It was revealed in April 2020 that Brad filed paperwork for a stipulation and order about their ‘education and transitional support’ for their kids on March 16, according to Entertainment Tonight.
The Blast revealed that the stipulation said that the former couple agreed on a ‘traditional’ approach for their children’s education.
Brad’s children have been spending the majority of their time during the pandemic with their mom Angelina, 44, whose $25million home is mere minutes from Brad’s mansion.
Last month, he threw a party for Shiloh, attended by all of her siblings, even Maddox, who had up until recently been estranged from his father.
Pitt has been working hard at mending the rifts in his family, ever since his very public divorce proceedings against Angelina began in 2016.
But more recently, sources claim the exes have been ‘getting on better’ since agreeing on a custody schedule for their children.
‘Brad’s kids are the most important thing to him. He tells his friends he learns so much about life from his own children,’ a source told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday.
‘He and Angie have been getting along so much better since the custody rules have been worked out. They have come so far.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
