What Angelina Jolie Just Admitted About Her Children

A mother's love leaves a lasting effect on a child for the rest of their lives. But what about a child's impact on their mother? Angelina Jolie is no stranger to admitting how her six children with ex Brad Pitt — Maddox, 20, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 13 — have changed her forever. "We're really such a unit," Jolie told The New York Times in 2017. "They're the best friends I've ever had. Nobody in my life has ever stood by me more." A source also told Us Weekly in 2019 that "[Jolie's] kids are her life. Every day is a new adventure."

Jolie also made it clear that all she wants for her children is for them to be content. As she told BBC News in 2017, "In five years' time, I would like to be traveling around the world visiting my children, hoping that they're just happy and doing really interesting things, and I imagine in many different parts of the world, and I'll be supporting them."

Now almost five years since that BBC news interview, Jolie is letting fans in on her private life with her children, revealing some heartwarming truths about them.

For Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's six kids, they not only benefit from Jolie's parenting philosophy, but from having each other as siblings, too. "They're pretty great people," the "Maleficent" star told People about her children. "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."

Being a single mom to six children can definitely be overwhelming, even for a mega-wealthy celebrity like Jolie, who had to take a step back from directing films to be there for the kids amid her contentious divorce from Pitt. "I had a change in my family situation," she told Entertainment Weekly in August. "I needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more."

However, watching her children's growth is Jolie's pride and joy. "I have six very individual human beings in my home. I am so excited about all the different stages and feelings and curiosities that they go through," she said. Jolie also revealed that her children's unconditional love was restorative for her, especially when she is being too hard on herself. "My children have done many, many loving things," Jolie said. "My children's kindness has been very healing to me."

Considering Jolie has been through the wringer these past few years — undergoing a double mastectomy, dealing with Bell's palsy and several cancer scares, the aforementioned divorce from Pitt — we're glad her children have been so invigorating to her.