she's fuckin' lying. it's natural to feel more of a "connection" to your biological child, than to other kids who aren't of your same blood and genetic genes but it doesn't mean that you may love your natural child more or less than your other kids. you should love them all the same anyway and be thankful that the child is healthy. There are plenty of women out there who wished they had kids and can't. she's just saying this shit for publicity. even so, like the other orger said, you shouldn't compare your kids anyway.

fuckin' rich people
[Edited 1/9/07 16:44pm]

Shut it, LleeLlee.

Feeling a "connection" is one thing, but personality is something that emerges over time, no? It's not entirely socially constructed, there's much that is inherent etc., but it comes out gradually.

I think Jolie was trying to make a subtle and important distinction here.

i have a little godson, and at 6 months, i could already see his personality and he isn't even my child!!

missfee said:

By 6 months, sure!

But we're talking about newborns or even before they are born.

missfee said:

Do you personally know this (part in bold) to be true?

if you adopt a kid, you get one something like yourself, don't you suppose?

She's a liar. Didja see her on Larry King? She was touching her face like crazy - that's a serious tell.

I gotta go with Jon Voight on this one: she's one crazy bitch.

2the9s said:

newborns ARE blobs!
she never had the other two from such a young age

Heiress said:

No, I don't think that's always the case. I know people who are adopted who are nothing like their families.

jone70 said:

hmm, i'm thinking there must be deeper similarities, not something necessarily obvious... what makes a person choose one child over another?
[Edited 1/10/07 23:41pm]

I don't know, I have that kind attitude towards children myself (of course I'm not a parent, thank God). I just don't see very young infants as terribly interesting or even as proper people yet, until they start speaking and exploring the world. It's a total mystery to me how so many people seem to be so emotionally attached to newborns, and even if they weren't their own children.

novabrkr said:

it's hormones
[Edited 1/11/07 2:03am]

ZombieKitten said:

But the doctors say I have unusually high estrogen levels for a male.

novabrkr said:

have you tried smelling a newborn's head?
new mothers usually get a rush of the bonding hormone oxytocin after the birth and when breastfeeding.

ZombieKitten said:

Thanks. I'll try those things next. Smell random babies on the street and breastfeed them.

novabrkr said:

they can't be any old babies though, they have to be younger than 6-7 weeks I think it might work on you! hold their head close and take a few deep breaths let me know if you start feeling anything

"why is that weirdo sniffing mah babies?!?"

2the9s said:

I don't know what others mean, but this is what I responded to a post by Cortes on another thread:

retina said:

In other words nothing major like clearly expressed opinions - she's obviously much too young to communicate or even move around properly - but there are little reactions and behavioral patterns that are signs of her personality and clues to what kind of an adult she might turn into later in life.

I do find it interesting that so many parents on this thread considered their own newborns to be blobs though. Maybe you just didn't compare them to other so-called "blobs"? The differences are subtle, but I'd definitely say that they exist.

retina said:

In other words nothing major like clearly expressed opinions - she's obviously much too young to communicate or even move around properly - but there are little reactions and behavioral patterns that are signs of her personality and clues to what kind of an adult she might turn into later in life.

I do find it interesting that so many parents on this thread considered their own newborns to be blobs though. Maybe you just didn't compare them to other so-called "blobs"? The differences are subtle, but I'd definitely say that they exist. [/quote]


Newborns do not do all the things you mentioned. That's all after a few months.

Newborns simply cry, poop/pee, sleep and stare. Saying that there isn't a personality or calling them a blob at that age does not mean that you are not emotionally attached to them.

JustErin said:

What things? I'm just talking about her reactions. Reactions such as smiling and crying - simple things that even a newborn is capable of.

retina said:

Newborns do not smile and interact in the ways you mentioned. A baby that is a few months old does. They don't laugh, they don't even see that well at first.

Overtime they develop little personalities. The only kind of 'personality' I can remember with my newborn was that he made the cutest cooing sound when he nursed.

JustErin said:

I disagree.



Of course they get more and more capable of displaying their personality as time goes by. When they are newborn they have very limited ways of displaying it, but that doesn't mean they don't have a personality, nor does it mean that they can't display it at all.

"I think I feel so much more for Madd and Zee because they're survivors, they came through so much. Shiloh seemed so privileged from the moment she was born. I have less inclination to feel for her...I met my other kids when they were 6 months old, they came with a personality. A newborn really is this...Yes, a blob! But now she's starting to have a personality...I'm conscious that I have to make sure I don't ignore her needs, just because I think the others are more vulnerable."

- Angelina Jolie in the new issue of U.K. Elle

Oh please. The others are not "more vulnerable". They've been rich, privileged kids since the day she got them. They'll have no memory of where they came from and what sort of situation they were once in. (unless of course they have some health problems from birth or something)

I never liked Angelina, and now I like her even less. Not because she said the baby was a blob (I'd probably say the same thing ), but because she's still treating her adopted kids as if they are somehow more precious and fragile. Whatever.
[Edited 1/11/07 8:10am]

retina said:

Well, I am just going by personal experience of raising a child and being around all of my brother's children when they were newborns.

JustErin said:

And I respect that experience. In fact, I feel like a dick for having the nerve to speak about newborns when I'm not even a parent myself. I do however have some experiences of my own anyway, and those are what I speak of. It's interesting that they don't match yours.

retina said:

That's ok. I still love you.

JustErin said:

Let's make a baby together and see if it turns out to be a blob.

retina said:

I'm not having another one of THOSE!

Heiress said:

Adopted children (I'm talking about babies here) are not chosen by the adoptive families. It's not like going to the pound and picking out a dog.


.
[Edited 1/11/07 9:22am]

jone70 said:

It was for my friend. She went to Russia and picked out a 9 year old boy from the orphanage. He was just one of many of course, and she picked him. It's different in every country though.

Oh, but you were talking about babies though.
[Edited 1/11/07 9:32am]