Angelina Adopts!

Angelina Jolie officially takes custody of three-year-old son Pax Thien Jolie, whom she is in the process of adopting from Vietnam

By Gina Serpe Mar 15, 2007 1:23 PMTags

Mad, meet Pax.

After months of anticipation for the Jolie-Pitt clan, and just weeks of anticipation for the rest of the world, Angelina Jolie has adopted three-year-old Vietnamese boy Pax Thien Jolie.

Though pretty soon, that'll be Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt.

Jolie, with five-year-old Cambodian-born son Maddox in tow, picked up the newest addition to the multicultural family in Vietnam early Thursday morning, just a day after the twosome touched down in the country and a few weeks after officials there confirmed the family was nearing the end of their adoption process.

Jolie and Maddox met with Pax Thien, whose first name is Latin for "peace" and whose middle name is Vietnamese for "sky," at the Tam Binh orphanage, where he has lived since his November 2003 birth.

According to officials, Jolie greeted the boy with a kiss and a hug, and while Pax at first seemed hesitant, it's something he'll no doubt get used to—or at least get plenty of practice getting used to.

"This morning, he woke up at 6, just like all the children," Trevor Neilson, Jolie's international affairs adviser, told the Associated Press. "He put on new clothes, and he was very excited."

The trio left the orphanage soon after, to a round of applause from staff and other children. The group took off in a dark minivan, though Pax's face was quickly shielded from the waiting photographers.

The family unit was on its way to the Department of Justice in Ho Chi Minh City, where they attended a ceremony in which Jolie was officially granted possession of the child.

No word on where they went from there, though they were due at the U.S. Consulate, where officials will once again review Jolie's application before giving final approval, issuing Pax a passport and allowing him to leave the country.

Mom and boys are expected to remain in the country for about a week.

Although the adoption itself was fast-tracked, the trip hasn't been all smooth sailing.

Neilson said Jolie has already complained to him that paparazzi attacked her car as she, Maddox and Pax left the orphanage, pounding on the vehicle and throwing things under it.

Neilson told People that father figure Brad Pitt that while not, per Vietnamese guidelines, listed on the adoption papers, he nevertheless wanted to join Jolie on the trip but was unable to due to the fact that he's currently under contract to film his new movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Los Angeles.

And presumably because he's caring for two-year-old Ethiopian-born Zahara and the couple's biological child, 10-month-old Shiloh.

Earlier this week, orphanage officials confirmed that, in addition to being a soccer fan, Pax plays well with others, calling him "a little bit shy" but "in good health."

The three-year-old was brought to the Tam Binh orphanage shortly after being born, when he was found abandoned in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital. Orphanage director Nguyen Van Trung said they had tried, and failed, to locate the boy's birth parents before signing off on Jolie's adoption.

Pax was selected by Jolie and Pitt during a visit to the Tam Binh orphanage last Thanksgiving. However, Jolie initially filed an application to adopt from the country last summer as a single mother, because Vietnam law does not allow unmarried couples to adopt jointly. As U.S. law does, Pitt is expected to file to adopt the boy once they return to the country.