Angelina Jolie Never Planned On Having Biological Kids Until She Met Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie was once dead set on never having biological children after adopting Pax Thien, Maddox Chivan, and Zahara Marley. The reason? The "Tomb Raider" star told Reader's Digest in 2022 that she was worried that if she had biological children, her adopted children would essentially come second. However, once Jolie's relationship with Brad Pitt was established, she changed her mind. "Before I met Brad, I always said I was happy never to have a child biologically. He told me he hadn't given up that thought. Then, a few months after Z came home, I saw Brad with her and Mad, and I realized how much he loved them, that a biological child would not in any way be a threat," she told the outlet. 

In another interview, Jolie said that she didn't feel as though having children of her own was "the right thing to do." She told W magazine that finding love with Pitt really made her see things differently. In that same interview, Jolie dove a bit deeper, explaining that Pitt seemed completely content with being a dad to Maddox, Zahara, and Pax, so much so that he stopped talking about having children of his own. "I suppose in my heart I realized he was happy with them as his children, completely. I knew he would never see them as different, and that gave me a certain peace," she said. In this moment, Jolie knew that she wanted to have a baby with Pitt.

After deciding to try for a biological baby, Angelina Jolie found out that she was pregnant and, a short while later, her and Brad Pitt's daughter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, was born in 2006 in Namibia. "She's got Dad's baby blues and just a soft crop of fair hair, but it's those lips — check out the super-size pout — that most give her away," People magazine wrote of the newborn in their June 2006 cover, according to CBS News. The first photos of baby Shiloh quickly went viral. 

Then, in 2008, Jolie gave birth to twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline in southern France. With three adopted kids and three biological kids, the Jolie-Pitts lived happily at their home in Miraval, according to CBS News. As the years went on, Jolie and Pitt focused on raising their children with a strong sense of culture, allowing the kids to learn from one another. "They're pretty great people and because there's so many of them, I think they've had a very significant effect on each other. It's not like I'm the head of anything. I'm very honest with my kids. And I'm very human with my kids," Jolie told People magazine in 2021.

Although Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's marriage ended in 2016, they both feel strongly about their parental roles. In a 2023 interview with Vogue, Jolie said that her children — all six of them — were her salvation in life. "Having children saved me — and taught me to be in this world differently," she told the outlet, adding, "I think, recently, I would've gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them." Meanwhile, Pitt told E! News in 2014 that becoming a dad made him feel rich. "Being a father has changed me on so many levels and made me more generous and alive. I see my children as an essential part of my life, and it means so much to be able to educate them and help them make their way in the world as they grow up. I love being a father and all the responsibilities that entails," he said.

Jolie and Pitt's contentious divorce has put a damper on fairytale life, especially because the three adopted Jolie-Pitt kids reportedly don't want anything to do with Pitt. In 2021, however, a source told E! News that Pitt was dedicated to being a good dad and to making all of his kids "happy." The source said that Pitt gives all of the kids space to "be whoever they want to be."