Angelina Jolie may have just purchased a new home in Los Angeles but already, she is reportedly planning to leave the new pad in lieu of a trip to Ethiopia.
According to a new report, the 42-year-old actress is preparing to travel to the African nation in honor of her daughter Zahara Jolie-Pitt’s adoption anniversary. As fans may recall, Zahara was just six-months-old when Angelina Jolie adopted her from Ethiopia on July 6, 2005.
At the time of the child’s adoption, Angelina Jolie and her now-estranged husband, Brad Pitt, traveled to the country together to pick up the child and bring her to their home for the very first time.
“[Angelina Jolie] is planning a trip to Ethiopia next month to celebrate Zahara’s adoption date. She’s always been very committed to each of the children knowing their birth country, and all about their heritage, so she’s keen for Zahara to spend time there. Angelina will be taking all of the children, and they’re really excited as they all love to travel,” a source close to Jolie revealed to Hollywood Life on June 7.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were together when they picked up Zahara from her home country but because they weren’t married at the time, Pitt was not listed as the child’s adopted father right away. Instead, he formally adopted the child one year later once he and Angelina Jolie had settled with Zahara at their home in the United States.
As for whether or not Brad Pitt would be invited on the family trip to celebrate Zahara’s adoption, the Hollywood Life source suggested that he was not yet asked to join in on the upcoming excursion.
“[Angelina Jolie] hasn’t invited Brad — even though both Zahara and Shiloh have said they would love their dad to go — because it’s still too difficult and painful for Angelina, and she still harbors a lot of anger towards Brad,” the insider explained. “They’ve moved on a lot from even a couple of months back, and they are able to talk civilly now. But there’s still a way to go before they reach a place of friendship.”
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt began their relationship on the set of 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith and went public with their romance after Pitt’s then-wife, Jennifer Aniston, filed for divorce. In the months that followed, Jolie and Pitt were seen in Cambodia with Maddox revealing Jolie’s first pregnancy months later. In 2006, just one year after going public, Jolie and Pitt’s first biological child, daughter Shiloh, was born. They later welcomed twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008 and adopted a total of three children, including 15-year-old Maddox, 13-year-old Pax, and 12-year-old Zahara.
According to Hollywood Life, Angelina Jolie is completely committed to having her adopted children know exactly where they came from. In fact, just one year ago, Angelina Jolie brought her oldest adopted son, Maddox, with her to Cambodia as she directed First They Killed My Father and even allowed the teenage boy to work as an assistant on the film. Months later, Angelina Jolie and all six of her kids returned to the country for the film’s premiere.
In addition to Angelina Jolie’s visit to Cambodia for Maddox and her upcoming trip to Ethiopia for Zahara, the actress also celebrated the adoption of her middle son, 13-year-old Pax, in Vietnam in 2011. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopted the boy from Vietnam from an orphanage in 2007.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt parted ways in September of last year after just two years of marriage. Since then, the couple’s divorce proceedings have continued, as has their battle over custody of their six children.
[Featured Image by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images]