Pitt, Jolie to Costar as Parents

Sun., Dec. 4, 2005 6:00 PM PST by Joal Ryan

So, does this mean they're going out?

While Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have yet to confirm they're romantic partners, they have confirmed their intent to be parental partners.

Pitt is seeking to become the adoptive father of his Mr. and Mrs. Smith costar's two children, his publicist has announced. A petition to formally add Pitt's surname to theirs was filed by Jolie on Friday in Santa Monica, California.

Pending court approval, the Jolie brood will be known as Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.

Jolie adopted Maddox, an orphaned Cambodian boy, in 2002 when she was married to Billy Bob Thornton. At the time, the couple referred to the baby as "our son." But 11 days after Maddox arrived in the United States, Thornton moved out on the newfound family. In the divorce papers, Jolie asked for sole custody of the child, and the boy took her surname.

Zahara, an Ethiopian orphan, became a member of the Jolie household in July. Her adoption was witnessed by Pitt, who accompanied Jolie to the African continent.

Pitt, who turns 42 on Dec. 18, has talked for years about his desire to play a real-life family man. When he began such talk, he was married to Jennifer Aniston. Their union foundered last January amid speculation--denied by both parties--that he wanted kids now, and she wanted them later.

Speculation also had it that Pitt had fallen for Jolie, 30, whom he met on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and her way of life (child-rearing, globe-trotting, do-gooding). This talk was not as convincingly denied.

In the June issue of GQ, Pitt talked about how a recent trip to Africa had inspired him to adopt. "I'm telling you, you just wanna take 'em [the orphans] up in your arms and take as many with you as you can," he said in the magazine.

Pitt played it cool when asked if Jolie had influenced his world-view. He told GQ that while he respected the Oscar-winning actress' charitable work, he had equal respect for the work done by a "host of others," including Bono.

But Pitt isn't adopting children with the U2 frontman; he's adopting them with Jolie. And their brood could be getting bigger: Jolie has said in recent months that she plans on adopting again. As to whether this move means the movie stars are coming out as a couple, or are altar-bound, the answer is there is no answer. "No further comment is being made," Pitt rep Cindy Guagenti said in a statement.

Pitt's divorce from Aniston became final in October, about the same time Pitt's relationship with Jolie entered the unofficial official realm, with the pair jointly turning out for a photo-op at the Muhammad Ali Center in Kentucky.

Now that he's about to become a father, Pitt can apply the parenting philosophy he discussed in GQ.

"I'm just really aware of the responsibility of putting your life second, and your job is to show this little one around in the world," Pitt told the magazine. "It's what makes sense to me."

(Updated Dec. 5, 2005 at 1:20 p.m. PT.)