The Truth About Angelina Jolie's Son Maddox's Adoption

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00:00As you may already know, helping the people — and especially the children — of Cambodia

00:05is a major passion in the life of Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie.

00:09"'I'll always be very grateful to this country.

00:13And I hope I've given back as much as it's given me.'"

00:17She even adopted her first child, the now 19-year-old Maddox, from the country in 2002.

00:23But what if the adoption wasn't as completely above board as we thought?

00:27What if Jolie herself had been duped by shady practices?

00:31That's what filmmaker Elizabeth Jacobs aims to find out in a new documentary titled The

00:36Stolen Children.

00:37Jacobs, who was 21, was adopted from Cambodia in the same period of time as Maddox.

00:43And she told The Sun that she has uncovered some troubling discrepancies in her own adoption

00:48process, though her parents had no idea of anything wrong at the time.

00:53And it has to do with the potentially unethical adoption practices of a certain adoption facilitator

00:58named Lauren Galindo.

01:00According to The Sun, at least half of all adoptions from Cambodia to the United States went through

01:05Galindo and her sister Lynn Devins Agency, Seattle International Adoptions, between 1997 and 2001,

01:14including Maddox.

01:15In 2004, Galindo was sentenced to 18 months in prison for running an adoption scam, according

01:21to ABC News, and it turned out many of the hundreds of Cambodian children Galindo placed

01:27for adoption with American parents weren't orphans or abandoned at all.

01:32They were basically stolen from their parents who thought their children were being sent to

01:36boarding school, or that they would be paid thousands of dollars by Americans who wanted

01:41to adopt them.

01:43The question is whether Maddox Jolie-Pitt was one of those children who was stolen from

01:47his parents.

01:49Officials looking into the adoption have said that Maddox was indeed a real orphan when

01:52his mother, Angelina Jolie, adopted him.

01:56In a 2020 interview with Vogue India, she recalled meeting Maddox for the first time,

02:01In 2001, I was in a school program in Samlout, and as clear as day, I thought,

02:07My son is here.

02:08A few months later, I met baby Mad at an orphanage.

02:11I can't explain it, and I'm not one to believe in messages or superstition, but it was just

02:16real and clear.

02:18That said, Cambodian welfare workers at the time believed that Maddox may have been sold

02:22by his impoverished mother for $100.

02:25A 2004 report in the Sydney Morning Herald even featured human rights leaders in the

02:30region claiming Maddox wasn't truly an orphan.

02:33With her film, Elizabeth Jacobs is determined to find out.

02:37Angelina Jolie previously opened up about the adoption process, and how her connection

02:42to Cambodia brought her to motherhood.

02:44As she told Vogue India in 2020,

02:46"'Cambodia was the country that made me aware of refugees.

02:50It made me engage in foreign affairs in a way I never had, and joined the UN Refugee Agency.

02:55Above all, it made me a mom.'"

02:59According to the Daily Mail, Jolie's focus on Cambodia at the time of her son's adoption

03:03became a focal point in her art, culminating in directing the 2017 film First They Killed

03:09My Father.

03:10The film told the story of the genocide of nearly 2 million Cambodian people in the

03:151970s under the regime of dictator Pol Pot.

03:19At the time, according to the Daily Mail, Jolie talked at length about how deeply every

03:24Cambodian had been affected by the war, and noted,

03:27"'I don't know much of Maddox's birth parents, but I believe they would have gone through

03:31this war.'"

03:32Although Jolie did not have much knowledge of Maddox's birth family, she remains determined

03:36that he build a connection to his home country.

03:39After the adoption of her first child Maddox in 2002, Angelina Jolie went through the process

03:44twice more with her daughter Zahara in 2005 and son Pax in 2007.

03:50The mother of six later welcomed three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivian, with ex-husband

03:57Brad Pitt.

03:58In discussing her mixed family, Jolie was sure to explain to Vogue India that she treats

04:03the adoption journey with as much importance as the birth one.

04:06"'With my adopted children, I can't speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail

04:12and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for

04:16the first time.'"

04:18The actor gave fans insight into her parenting style, too, revealing that she works to make

04:23sure each of her children's cultures remains part of their lives.

04:27According to Jolie, it's important that her children, quote,

04:30"...never lose touch with the culture of their home country."

04:33Despite the allegations of Maddox's adoption, Jolie remains a devoted, open mother to each

04:38of her children.

04:40Check out one of our newest videos right here!

04:42Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite stars are coming soon.

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