VIETNAM: American actress Angelina Jolie arrives in Vietnam ahead of plans to adopt an orphan boy from a Ho Chi Minh orphanage

American actress Angelina Jolie arrives in Vietnam ahead of plans to adopt an orphan boy from a Ho Chi Minh orphanage. American movie star Angelina Jolie is set to meet Vietnamese adoption authorities on Thursday (March 15) ahead of taking custody of a boy from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, officials said. The child, who is between 3 and 4 years old, will be Jolie's fourth. She has two adoptive children and a biological daughter with Hollywood actor and partner Brad Pitt. Jolie flew into the southern Vietnamese city on Wednesday night from Japan on a chartered plane. Her son Maddox and daughters Zahara and Shiloh Nouvel accompanied her. She is expected to go to the Justice Department to sign adoption documents, which are still subject to final approval from the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. The child, described by authorities in this communist-run country as healthy, has been in the Tam Binh orphanage in the city since late 2003. Senior officials said Jolie's adoption was speeded up, partly due to her celebrity status. Jolie, 31, filed adoption papers in early March through an unidentified American agency without Pitt because under Vietnamese law, an unmarried couple may not adopt a child. Single people may adopt children under the law. In Vietnam, adoptions have been known to take as little as one month if background checks and issues of whether the adopting family can support a child are quickly resolved. However, the process can take six months or longer in some cases. Jolie and Pitt visited Ho Chi Minh City last November and met children at the orphanage. The couple say they have no plans to marry but are committed to raising their children together. Their biological daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, was born last year. Jolie adopted Maddox from Cambodia and Zahara from Ethiopia before her relationship with Pitt, who has now become their adoptive father. The couple starred in the 2005 movie "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". They are also working together on the film "A Mighty Heart" about the killing of a U.S. journalist by Pakistani militants. Jolie won an Oscar in 1999 for best supporting actress in "Girl, Interrupted". She starred in the 2001 movie "Tomb Raider" which was filmed in Cambodia, neighbouring Vietnam.

ITN Source | March 16, 2007

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