Angelina Jolie is giving her family the childhood she always craved.

The Oscar-winning beauty - who has three adopted children, Maddox, six, Pax, four, and three-year-old Zahara, as well as two-year-old biological daughter Shiloh with partner Brad Pitt - revealed it has always been her dream to have children from different countries because it will help them develop a more mature outlook on life.

Angelina - who is expecting twins with Brad - said: "When I was growing up I wanted to adopt, because I was aware there were kids that didn't have parents.

It's not a humanitarian thing, because I don't see it as a sacrifice. It's a gift. We're all lucky to have each other.

"I look at Shiloh - because, obviously, physically, she is the one that looks like Brad and I when we were little - and say, 'If these were our brothers and sisters, how much would we have known by the time we were six that it took into our 30s and 40s to figure out?' I suppose I'm giving them the childhood I always wished I had."

Maddox was adopted from Cambodia, Pax from Vietnam and Zahara was rescued from poverty in Ethiopia.

Angelina and Brad also make sure the nannies they employ to help look after the children are from different walks of life.

She added to Vanity Fair magazine: "We don't ever have anybody spend the night.

We may have to adjust that when the next one comes. But we do have ladies that work with us, and they're also from different cultures and back-grounds. One lady's a Vietnamese teacher - wonderful. One is of Congolese descent from Belgium. Another is from the States and is really creative and does art programmes."