Agency clears Jolie's adoption
(Reuters)
2007-03-19 16:25
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Jolie, 31, was seen by photographers on Saturday inside a car arriving at her hotel in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest urban area with about 8 million people.
She arrived there on Wednesday night to adopt an almost three-and-a-half year old boy from an orphanage. Jolie has two other adopted children and a biological daughter with partner and Hollywood star Brad Pitt.
The US-based Adoptions From The Heart agency, which handled the adoption for Jolie, said in a statement she began the process last summer in Vietnam.
"Throughout Ms Jolie's adoption process, she received no preferential treatment from the Vietnamese government or Adoptions From The Heart," said the statement by Heidi Gonzalez, the non-profit agency's Vietnam coordinator.
"Contrary to earlier reports, her application was not fast-tracked," said the statement issued on Friday by the agency based in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.
On March 9, Vietnam's senior adoption official Vu Duc Long said, "In this case, things can move faster because she's a celebrity and she has already found a child."
Some people complained Jolie received preferential treatment, but several parents said the boy's welfare was the most important issue.
The length of time for adoptions in Vietnam varies, but the average is about six months, sometimes longer.
Some Vietnamese involved in international adoptions believe Jolie made a donation to the orphanage where the boy has lived since infancy, but Gonzalez said she "has neither made, nor promised to make any financial contributions" to the orphanage.
The Hollywood star collected the boy, re-named Pax Thien Jolie, from the Tam Binh orphanage on Thursday and signed adoption papers with authorities in the southern city.
The adoption will become final once US embassy officials in Hanoi approve the paperwork for the child to travel to the United States, Vietnamese officials said.
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