Adoptive parents of Vietnamese look beyond celebrity

By Grant McCool

HANOI (Reuters) - When Vietnam speeded U.S. actress Angelina Jolie's adoption of a three-year-old boy, many less privileged parents who've been through the same process rejoiced for the child.

Competition to adopt Vietnamese children is fierce with adoption agencies of 60 nationalities represented in the poor, communist-run Southeast Asian country of 84 million people.

While some people complained at the preferential treatment given to Jolie, several parents said the boy's welfare was the most important issue.

"The real concern should be the future of the child, not who the parents are," said one French single mother who adopted her son from Vietnam in 1994.

"Is it a crime to give money to an orphanage? Could we forget the fame and just think of the child?" she asked.

Senior officials said the adoption was put on a fast track, partly due to Jolie's celebrity status and the age of the child, who was abandoned at birth.

Some Vietnamese involved in adoption said Jolie made a donation to the Ho Chi Minh City orphanage where she adopted the boy on Thursday, although no one is saying how much. Less wealthy people have also done the same.

Many adoptive parents are moved to donate towards humanitarian causes such as the care of people disabled by chemicals or unexploded ordnance from the U.S. war in Vietnam that ended 32 years ago when the communists unified the country.