I think the desire for a healthy child has alot to do with the amount of traveling they do. Not to mention the fact this is their 4th child, all of them 5 and under. Adding in a child that is disabled or seriously ill would become emotionally dificlut for every one in the family, including the newly adopted child.

No one should feel obligated to adopt a sick child. Who knows what went into their decision? Adopting a child is a huge commitment and adopting an ill child can make the first few months that much harder. Maybe they knew they had full shooting schedules coming up and didn’t want to put a sick child through all that travel and instability. It’s really not our place to judge them.

Plus, wasn’t Zahara very sick when Angelina (and Brad) adopted her? It’s certainly easy to understand that if you’ve been through one serious illness and hospital stay with a new child you wouldn’t want to repeat the expirience.

And I totally agree with you Grace. I respect and admire anyone who is willing to adopt children who have health problems. It really takes a lot of work and effort, is often expensive and is not something to be taken lightly at all (though that’s not saying adoption in general should be taken lightly) it’s just a much more difficult and takes a serious commitment.
A couple that isn’t fully prepared to deal with a child who needs the sort of attention it takes, or one that just isn’t prepared for personal reasons should not adopt a special needs child period.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Brad and Angelina only adopting healthy children. They have a lot of money (and they donate a lot of money), but like any other couple I’m sure they have their reasons for only feeling like a child who is healthy at this time could fit into their lifestyle.

Rachel: I agree. The story about the beginning of Pax’s life should be kept private. There are parts of that story that could be really hard for Pax to find out about one day and it would be so much easier to find out about it from people who love him – instead of from the media.

It’s really getting on my nerves to see the way certain parts of the press have no respect for the well-being of a young child.

L: Raising a child with health problems takes more than just money. It creates an emotional drain on not just the parents but the whole family, and therefore I don’t think a person should feel obligated to adopt an unhealthy child just because they have money. And I’m saying that as person who has suffered from chronic illnesses since childhood and as a former nanny who has worked with several different families who have had children with health problems. I worked for families that had a great deal of money and resources at their disposal, and well as me working for them full-time to help ease the strain – and it still took a huge toll on the parents and the other siblings.

If a person thinks adopting a child with a health problem is so important then they should go out and adopt one instead of pointing the finger at other people and telling them they should.

It seems to me that no matter what this family does it will be considered wrong. When they were adopting just babies there was an outcry of people saying they should adopt a child who is older, and then they did that and now it’s “they should adopt an unhealthy child” or “they should adopt a child from America” and something tells me if they adopted an unhealthy or American child they would be criticized for that too.

I agree with Thalia that articles that stick to the facts are wonderful and parts of this article were truly touching. I liked that they included how loved Pax was at his orphanage and how much he will be missed and I too love the follow-up that they do…

But I must say that I HATE when anyone shares details of an adopted child’s story (meaning what happened with their birth parents and such) publicly. THAT part is Pax’s story and in my honest opinion only he should be allowed to share that with the public. I mean he shouldn’t have to grow up and read that on the internet… it’s just not something to make public.

The only thing that saddens me is that someone with such wealth wouldn’t seek the unhealthy child who, otherwise, has little to no chance.

I am so happy for Pax Thien, I hope he will have a great future in America. Besides learning English, his mother now Jolie should think about having him learns to write and speak Vietnamese. Vietnam is a beautiful country and the Vietnamese people are very friendly, Jolie is now a great person in the eyes of the Vietnamese people, not just because of how famous she is but because of how she loves and adopted Pax Thien. I am a native born Vietnamese living in America, I would like to thank Jolie and everyone that supported her for the adoption. Jolie should bring Pax Thien back to visit Vietnam once in every 2-3 years, tell him the story of his life, the orpanage where he used to live and the great people there that love and care for him. Having more than one cultures embedded in a person benefits that person in many ways, Pax Thien should learn both the American and Vietnamese cultures and I am sure he will grow up to be a great person, a bridge between America and Vietnam that once was torned by an unnecessary war.

I like articles like this. Ones that stick to the facts and that is that. I like the 3 year follow up rule that they have. That shows an investment into the future wellbeings of the children