Angelina Jolie’s New Son… Pax Thien

While out saving the world, actress Angelina Jolie has picked up the three-year-old Vietnamese boy she plans to adopt, but faces a few last procedural hurdles before the youngster can be brought to his new home in New Orleans.

Vietnamese officials approved the adoption, but US officials still need to give the adoption the green light before it is final, said Nguyen Van Trung, director of the Tam Binh orphanage. The child must have a medical check-up before US officials can issue him a passport and visa, which could be completed within the next day or two.

The child’s name is Pax Thien Jolie, said Trevor Neilson, Jolie’s adviser on international affairs, in South Africa. Pax means peace in Latin, while Thien means heaven in Vietnamese.

Even though everything could be approved, Mr Neilson said that Angelina was at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City and that Ms Jolie had no plans to return home this weekend.

The AP reports state that Jolie picked up the child at around 9am local time, with about 20 children dressed in traditional Vietnamese tunics, called ao dai, welcoming Jolie with flowers at the orphanage.

Trung, the orphanage director, said Jolie greeted the boy with a kiss and held him, also noting, “the child at first seemed shy with his mother-to-be.”

CNN news reports state that, “About 20 minutes after Jolie arrived at the orphanage, someone carried the boy outside to a waiting minivan with dark windows. Someone shielded the child’s face from photographers with an umbrella, and Jolie followed him directly into the car, which then headed into the center of Ho Chi Minh City.”

“The same vehicle later arrived at the Department of Justice, where Vietnamese adoption officials said a ceremony was conducted at which Jolie officially took possession of the child. After about half an hour, two vehicles left the building, followed by a buzz of reporters and photographers.”

Also of interest is the speed in which Jolie was able to adopt, as opposed to other couples who have to wait much, much longer.

Mr. Nielson has refuted these claims, stating, “as far as the adoption was concerned, she was receiving no preferential treatment of any kind.”

“She is going through the process in the exact same way as other American parents except that she is under siege from the paparazzi,” he said.

Mr Neilson said she complained in a telephone call to him that paparazzi had attacked her car as she left the orphanage, pounding on the door and throwing things under the vehicle to prevent it from going, according to the reports.

“Angelina understands the interest in her life, but we hope the paparazzi can have some restraint when it comes to the safety and emotional health of this boy,” Mr Neilson concluded.

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