Zahara Baby Drama Update: The adoption Was Legal All The Way

Angelina Jolie is faced with a potentially heart-breaking baby drama, as her adopted daughter Zahara's biological family allegedly want the child returned to them. This happens as In Touch magazine reportedly made contact with none other than Zahara's biological mother, whom everybody believed to be dead two years ago, at the time Angelina decided to go through with the adoption.

Mentewab Dawit Lebiso insists she is Zahara's birth mother. She also admitted that her own mother (Zahara's grandmother, who signed the adoption papers) knew she had run away from home and abandoned Zahara, but there had been no reason for her to be pronounced dead. "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".

Well, I'm sure life for them is extremely hard in Africa, but abandoning the dying Zahara definitely wasn't the kind of move that would indicate this is the best environment in which Zahara should be brought up. Lebiso claims she fell pregnant after she was raped by a stranger who broke into her home. She also 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 that "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."

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". We'll just have to see what happens next - and we'll bring you all the news as soon as it's out, so stay tuned.