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The Jolie-Pitts call in a therapist

This doesn’t come as a surprise. Having to juggle six kids and give each one equal love and attention is a tough job for any parent! We don’t know how they do it, which is why we totally understand why Ange and Brad are now having weekly phone sessions with a psychotherapist.

Friends close to Brad say Angelina is battling to bond with the twins and has asked Brad to take over the reins. “Ange is suffering from post-partum depression and is not coping right now. She’s just really down. Her spirits are really low,” reveals a source.

Clinical pschycologist Tanya Bonner says Ange would probably be feeling very lethargic and negative right now. “With her own emotions depleted she would most likely battle to bond with the twins at first.”

Coupled with all that responsibility and taking care of the other children, things between Brad and Ange are not going as well as planned. “Brad is happy that his folks paid a visit to France to help out, but he still wants to go back to LA where his friends and family are,” says a friend. Which is completely understandable. There he will get the help and support he needs to be a good father to six children.

Family dynamics shaken
Those close to the couple say the twins have also had a massive effect on the family dynamics. “Little Shiloh isn’t the baby anymore. She has been throwing tantrums and screaming for no reason.” And poor Maddox! All of a sudden he has to play big brother to five siblings, who don’t even speak the same language!

But Ange is refusing to budge and wont move back to the US just yet. Instead she has insisted they try therapy sessions before making a final decision.

“They phone the same psychotherapist they used when they were staying in New York. They just need some help. Everything is so overwhelming and they seem to be battling with the basics,” says a family member.

“It will give him an opportunity to voice his concerns, but the focus would be on her struggle and how she can cope and deal with the depression,” says Bonner. Friends say that Ange is hoping once her baby blues are over she can convince Brad to adopt another child, while still living happily in France.

What a handful! Sounds to us as if things in the Jolie-Pitt home must be a tad chaotic at the moment. Hopefully the therapy will help the parents out and then maybe we could finally catch a glimpse of the entire clan out and about.

Read more: The baby's fine - how are you?

[This is an edited extract of a feature by Jessica Levitt, published in Heat magazine, July 2008. Get more fascinating views and interviews in the latest issue of Heat, on sale now, and visit www.heat.co.za for more on the twins.]

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