Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt appear ready to adopt Syrian refugee
Angelina Jolie has been visiting Syrian refugees in the region since the crisis began in 2011. Now, she and husband Brad Pitt have plans to adopt a little boy, reports say.
Actress Angelina Jolie Pitt, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees special envoy and co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, walks with her son Pax as they visit Jan Mai Kaung refugee camp in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar in July. The refugees have fled fighting between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army since 2011.
Hkun Lat/AP/File
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are finalizing plans to adopt another child: a little boy from Syria, according to Radar.
A source reportedly told the outlet that Ms. Jolie, a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “met three Syrian orphan siblings” on a trip.
“Angelina was heartbroken to learn the three of them had seen their father taken away by Syrian soldiers, and their home was also bombed,” said the source. “And they lost their mother in the bombing.”
If the report is accurate, the Syrian child would be number seven for Jolie and Mr. Pitt. The longtime Hollywood actors are already parents to six kids: three biological children, including eight-year-old Shiloh and six-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, and three who were adopted, 13-year-old Maddox from Cambodia, 11-year-old Pax from Vietnam, and 10-year-old Zahara from Ethiopia.
“Angie wanted to adopt all three, but when she got back to the United States, and told Brad about it, he said no,” the source said. “Going from six children to nine was just way too much, and Brad was concerned about how it would impact their other kids.”
Representatives for the actors have not responded to outlets’ requests for comment, according to The Daily Mail.
Once the adoption is finalized, the source added, “It could take at least another four to five months before the child is brought to the United States.”
Jolie was appointed to her role as special envoy for refugees in 2012, having served as a goodwill ambassador for several years prior, according to the UN.
While much of the world didn’t come to pay attention to the ongoing crisis until this summer as headlines of European border struggles came to light, the celebrity has been pleading with political leaders to provide more aid for years.
In April, Jolie criticized the UN Security Council for its inaction over the conflict, imploring the foreign minister of each of the 15 council member countries come to the table to negotiate a political solution, reported The Associated Press. “She also urged council members to visit Syrian refugees and see the crisis for themselves.”
Jolie has made 11 visits to Syrian refugees in the region since 2011, and this year even took her daughter Shiloh to visit a camp in southeastern Turkey, according to The Daily Mail.
"We cannot look at Syria, and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world's inability to protect and defend the innocent," said Jolie at the United Nations.