Angelina Jolie could lose her adopted daughter after Zahara’s biological mother said she wants her back.
Popular on LondonNet
Angelina, who claimed Zahara was an AIDS orphan when she adopted her in July 2005, has been left reeling after a 24-year-old woman came forward and begged the actress to return her daughter.
Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, who insists she is Zahara’s birth mother, said: ‘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.
‘I thought the baby was going to die because there was no food, so I ran away.’ Lebiso, who claims she fell pregnant after she was raped by a stranger who broke into her home, says she never signed any adoption papers and was misled by local officials who promised she could see her baby again.
Adoption specialist Jerri Jenista told In Touch Weekly: ‘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.’
Wide Horizons for Children, the agency Angelina adopted from, claims the adoption was done legally. The agency’s Ethiopian representative, Dr. Tsegaye Berhe, said: ‘We have to trust the documents we received from the local government. She signed a document saying, ‘My daughter had died and she left the child behind.
‘Angelina Jolie has no obligation to keep in touch with Zahara’s blood family. It’s up to the adoptive parent, we cannot force them.’
Angelina’s friends have dismissed Lebiso’s claims and insist Zahara has no family.
One pal said: ‘Angelina believes that Zahara is an orphan and the woman who claims to be her mother is mistaken. Government papers said Zahara was an AIDS orphan and Angie had no reason to believe otherwise.
‘Zahara was days away from death and Angelina saved that child. As far as she is concerned, that bonded her to that little girl forever.’
However, Zahara’s adoption papers show the child has a grandmother and extended family living in Ethiopia, according to reports.
Zahara’s alleged aunt, Zinash Haile Yenero, said: ‘After they took the baby, they didn’t keep in contact. They didn’t tell us anything about her.
‘My mother was very sad. At one point she was even thinking of trying to find a way to bring her grandchild back. But she has no money, so she can’t.’
Angelina and her long-term partner Brad Pitt also have two other adopted children – Pax, three, and six-year-old Maddox – along with a 17-month-old biological daughter Shiloh.
Angelina and Brad have reportedly just purchased a man-made island in Dubai, in the shape of Ethiopia, for Zahara.
