Jolie's adopted daughter's real mother wants her back

Thursday, November 15, 2007 >

Melbourne (ANI): Actress Angelina Jolie"s adopted daughter Zahara"s birth family wants to take her back to Ethiopia. The actress adopted Zahara more than two years ago when the little girl was malnourished and thought to be an orphan. However, Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, the woman who claims to be Zaraha's mother, never signed any documents giving up her daughter, a point that could help her get Zahara back.

"If some family member comes in and leaves the child at an orphanage and signs her over, and then the mother wants her back, you can make the argument that the person didn't truly understand that their child was gone forever," News.com.au quoted Jerri Jenista, an adoption specialist, as telling In Touch Weekly.

Lebiso said that she wants her daughter to come back to the place she actually belongs to. "I want my daughter to come home to see where she is from. Her grandmother and I both tried very hard to raise her, and I want her to come home to regain her identity," she said.

The birth family of Zahara has claimed that they were misled, for a local official told them that they would see the baby again and maintain contact. The members were expecting that Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, would bring Zahara back for a visit but were disappointed when they didn"t keep in touch.

"After they took the baby, they didn't keep in contact. They didn't tell us anything about her," Zahara's aunt said. Dr Tsegaye Berhe from the adoption agency said that Jolie had no problem maintaining contact with Zahara's blood family. However, Jenista has revealed that unless Lebiso can find the money for a challenge, the choice remained Jolie's until Zahara was older.