Angelina Jolie is an activist who promotes kindness and justice around the world.
Coupled with her humanitarian and philanthropic work, everyone turned their attention to her in 2002, when she decided to adopt Maddox when he was a baby from Cambodia. Being her eldest child, Maddox marked the beginning of a beautiful blended family.
Currently, Angelina Jolie is the mother of 6 beautiful children, 3 of whom were adopted. Although it is hard for us to believe that the famous actress did not want to have a baby, she confirmed it flatly by saying: “She never wanted to be pregnant. I was never a babysitter. “I never saw myself as a mother.” After her trip to Cambodia, she changed her perspective and began to see things differently.
Cambodia holds a special place in Jolie's heart: it was the country where she filmed her hit movie Tomb Raider in 2000. Since then, she fell in love with the people there and was captivated by what was happening in the country at the time.
This country awakened the humanitarian side of her and in 2001 she contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to become a goodwill ambassador. She remembers it like this: “That trip made me realize how little I knew and the beginning of my search for that knowledge.” And, if this wasn't enough, to solidify a strong connection to Cambodia, she visited an orphanage and met her first child, Maddox.
The Hollywood star visited a Cambodian orphanage with her then-husband, Billy Bob Thornton when she saw baby Maddox, whose fate was about to change. Jolie and Maddox had an instant connection, according to a former friend, who said: “From what I understand when she visited the place and saw Maddox, he smiled at her and stood up instead of crying like all the other babies. That touched her heart, that's why she chose Maddox.”
Maddox wasn't the only one whose life changed that day. It was then that the actress discovered her maternal epiphany and her willingness to help disadvantaged children around the world.
Due to the baby trafficking that existed in Cambodia at that time, it was not easy for a foreigner to adopt a baby from that country. Jolie, who was facing legal difficulties, contacted her Cambodian friend and former partner, Sarath Mounh. He added Maddox to his family registry so Jolie could legally adopt him from a Cambodian father.
Maddox was officially adopted on March 10, 2002, by Jolie as a single mother. She named him Maddox instead of Rath Vibol, which was her birth name.
At age 15, Maddox encouraged her mother to make the world-nominated film, First They Killed My Father, a film that reflects Cambodian human rights activist Luong Ung's memoir of experience as a child under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Maddox knew the Cambodian activist and wanted to document what happened in her country.
During the filming of the film, she remembers how Maddox got involved: “She read the script, helped with the notes, and was in the production meetings.” The film was directed by Jolie with Maddox actively working alongside her, which helped him delve into the history of her country and connect with her roots.
Angelina's strong ties to Cambodia led her to create the Maddox Jolie Foundation in 2003, which eventually became the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation. It is dedicated to alleviating extreme rural poverty, protecting the environment, and conserving wildlife in rural areas of northwestern Cambodia. Associating Maddox's name and Cambodia shows that she is raising him to be a proud Cambodian.
