In recent news, London School of Economics professor, Angelina Jolie, has filed for divorce from Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, her husband of two years and partner of over a decade. Jolie and Pitt share 6 children, 3 of which are adopted: Maddox Jolie-Pitt, 15, Pax Jolie-Pitt, 12, and Zahara Jolie-Pitt, 11.
With all this divorce drama going on, I can’t help but think about what their children are going through, but more importantly what the adopted children of the family are going through. Children taken from orphanages are far more fragile than children growing up with their biological family, studies show that adopted children are more likely to develop social, intellectual, or emotional problems.
For those of you that don’t know, Jolie adopted all 3 children herself while Pitt later on adopted Maddox, Pax and Zahara. Maddox Chivan was the first adopted child of the Pitt-Jolie family. Born in Battambang, Cambodia on August 5, 2001, Maddox was adopted 7 months later on March 10, 2002. Jolie first met Maddox as a Goodwill Ambassador visiting for the U.N. High Commission for Refuges. She later returned in November 2001 to adopt him but ran into some complications: The U.S. government banned adoptions from Cambodia in light of child trafficking allegations. Her adoption request was later approved. 3 months later, Jolie and then husband, Billy Bob Thornton, divorced, and she raised Maddox on her own. Zahara Marley was adopted at 6 months from Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia on July 6, 2005. Born on January 8, 2005, Zahara was conceived through rape, and her mom later left her because she could not afford to pay for her when she got sick. Jolie and Pitt both agreed to adopt Zahara. The most recently adopted Jolie-Pitt is Pax Thien, born on November 23, 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Adopted on March 15, 2007, Pax was abandoned by his mother soon after birth, and Jolie first met him in an orphanage in HCMC. Although Jolie and Pitt were a couple, Vietnam’s adoption regulations don’t allow unmarried couples to adopt Vietnamese orphans, so Jolie adopted the boy on her own.
Angelina Jolie has proved more than enough times that she is a fit enough mother to care for these children. Jolie and her own mother were extremely close, and that helped Jolie connect with her own kids. But there is room for worry during a divorce when it involves children who came from a broken home. Divorce is not easy for anyone, I have many friends whose parents are divorced, but in situations like this when the adopted children are already so fragile, divorce affects them more. Internationally adopted children are more likely to develop anxiety and depression, and show symptoms of separation anxiety disorders rather than non-adopted children. Both parents have asked that their children not be brought up in the media headlines involving the divorce, but I can’t help but wonder how they’re handling this.
There is so much uncertainty during a divorce, especially in a situation like this where the mother is seeking physical custody for all 6 kids and there is a possibility that these children won’t see their father. Physical custody means that the children live with the parent that the judge deems suitable. The children will live with this parent on a daily basis. Jolie is attempting to gain physical custody due to her issue with Pitt’s alleged parenting techniques. With physical custody, Jolie can move the children out of the state of California, and away from their father. Like most children, the Jolie-Pitt kids will believe that this is their fault. So instead of concerning ourselves with how Jen is feeling, we should be considering how the children of this broken family are taking it: do they believe its their fault? will they get to see Pitt enough?
I am not concerned with how Rachel Green feels about this divorce, and it should not be made into a mockery when children’s livelihoods are at stake.
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