'NOT 100% SURE' Angelina Jolie’s pal claims ‘orphan’ son Maddox’s biological parents ‘may not have both been dead’ before 2002 a
'NOT 100% SURE' Angelina Jolie’s pal claims ‘orphan’ son Maddox’s biological parents ‘may not have both been dead’ before 2002 adoption
ANGELINA Jolie’s pal claimed her “orphan” son Maddox’s biological parents “may not have been dead” before his 2002 adoption.
Sarath Mounh, a former aid worker that helped the actress adopt her oldest son, said he isn’t “100% sure” if Maddox’s parents were alive at the time of his adoption.
Angelina's pal said claimed 'orphan' son Maddox’s biological parents 'may not have been dead' before his adoption
8
Angelina's pal said claimed 'orphan' son Maddox’s biological parents 'may not have been dead' before his adoptionCredit: Getty
She adopted Maddox in 2002
8
She adopted Maddox in 2002Credit: Getty
The 19-year-old was born in Cambodia
8
The 19-year-old was born in Cambodia
While running an NGO in Cambodia, Sarath became a close friend of the 46-year-old actress when she visited the Maddox’s home country.
According to DailyMail.com, Sarath played a role in Maddox’s adoption by signing legal documents claiming he was the birth father of Angelina’s oldest child to help get it approved quicker by the Cambodian courts.
While he is not Maddox’s biological father, it is not clear if Angelina is aware of this fact.
He told the outlet: 'I'm not 100% sure that Maddox was an orphan even though he came from an orphanage. At least one of the parents was possibly alive at the time of his adoption. But I never asked these difficult questions, nobody did.
“This was happening a lot in Cambodia. There were many babies who were left in orphanages or sold to them by their parents because they couldn't afford to look after them.”
At the time of Maddox's adoption, head of the human rights agency Licadho Kek Galibru investigated the adoption and said: "I'm sure that this child was not a real orphan and was not abandoned."
However, Angelina has insisted Maddox was an orphan at the time of his adoption and said: "I would never rob a mother of her child. I can only imagine how dreadful that would feel."
POTENTIALLY UNETHICAL PRACTICES
The Hollywood star was one of hundreds of American parents who used Lauryn Galindo to facilitate the adoption of Maddox from Cambodia, while she was apparently unaware of her potentially unethical practices.
Galindo and her employees allegedly worked as "baby recruiters," who reportedly preyed on poor families in rural areas.
Sarath's claims come after reports that filmmaker Elizabeth Jacobs will uncover the truth about Galindo's adoptions in a new documentary she's making called The Stolen Children.
She will be traveling to Cambodia later in the year and hopes to get answers about her own adoption, which may help to better understand hundreds of others around that time, including Maddox.
Jacobs, 21, is from the same generation as Maddox, 19, and the circumstances of her own adoption from Cambodia remain murky after her parents also used Galindo.
Between 1997 and 2001, at least half of all adoptions from Cambodia to the US - around 800 of 1600 - went through Galindo and her sister Lynn Devin’s agency Seattle International Adoptions.
One year after Maddox was adopted, Galindo and Devin were both charged, with Devin being given a $150,000 financial penalty for falsifying documents to obtain US visas for "orphans."
Galindo was imprisoned for 18 months in 2004 for the same crime and money laundering, while she has since been released and is living in Hawaii.
GALINDO SPEAKS OUT
When asked if any of her practices were unethical, she told The Sun: "Absolutely not. Every single day, I wake up and I want to dedicate my body, my speech, my mind, my actions, to doing the best I can to being a force for good."
"