Angelina Jolie Gives Birth to Twins: A Boy Knox Leon & A Girl Vivienne Marcheline!!

Posted on July 12, 2008

Angelina Jolie gave birth to her twins Saturday evening in Nice, France, sources are reporting. Angelina had a girl, named Vivienne Marcheline (after Jolie’s late mother, Marcheline Bertrand), and a boy named Knox Leon! See the Jolie-Pitt twins photos on the cover of People magazine here.

Finally it’s true! Angelina Jolie twins have arrived!

Angelina gave birth to twins at Foundation Lenval Hospital in France around 8 pm, Saturday July 12th. The girl weighed 5 pounds and the boy 5.03 pounds.

The boy is named Knox Leon and the girl is named Vivienne Marcheline, after Marcheline Bertrand, Jolie’s late mother that died of cancer.

Dr. Michel Sussman, the ob that delivered Angelina’s twins confirmed the birth today by phone to the Associated Press.

“Brad and Angelina are extremely happy and everything went perfectly,” ? Dr. Michel Sussmann the obstetrician who delivered the twins tells E! News. “Both of the babies are adorable and in excellent health and everyone’s content and getting some much deserved rest.

“[Brad, Angelina and the twins] are all tired but very, very happy.”

Knox arrived first and weighed 5.03 pounds, per Sussmann; Vivienne followed at 5 pounds.

Pitt was on hand to witness the cesarean section birth of his twins. Sussmann told the Associated Press the procedure was pushed up “for medical reasons,” but declined to elaborate.

Jolie should be allowed to leave within a few days.

“Everything is going well, ” said Sussman. “The mother, the babies, the father are all doing marvelously well”, said Dr. Sussman.

Brad was present for the procedure, which took place at the seaside Lenval hospital in southern France, and the cesarean section was moved up from its original date “for medical reasons” so that the babies could be born “in the best conditions.”

And Jolie has already started to receive visitors. “Angelina’s brother [James Haven] has been here this morning,” a hospital insider tells Us Magazine.

“There is a buzz at the clinic. The babies are resting, as is Jolie. They haven’t [been] crying yet, so it just feels very peaceful.”

The twins join Brad and Angelina’s established brood of Maddox, 6, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2. Angelina and Brad’s twins make baby 5 and 6 for the couple.

Though Brad, 44, and Angelina have been quite vocal about expanding their clan, the Oscar winner says they weren’t expecting to multiply so quickly, admitting the dual pregnancy was a “shock.” And while parenting six kids may sound difficult to many, the two are up for a challenge and are determined to make it work.

“Our real focus now is: How do we make sure that the babies’ coming is not upsetting to other kids and makes them feel included,” Angelina said. “We’re trying to find ways where it can be a fun group thing. But the hard thing is every single day trying to find time for each of them privately. Everybody gets special time so we can make sure we know where they’re at.”

Congrats to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on the birth of their boy and girl!

So what is the story behind their babies names?

The name Leon has family connections, being the name of Angelina’s great-great grandfather. It’s also possible (though a stretch) that the name reflects his mother’s charitable work, as one of the places she traveled to as Goodwill Ambassador to the UN was Sierra Leone.

Vivienne, the French form of Vivian, reflects her place of birth — something her parents like to do — and its meaning, “life, alive” resonates in the uplifting way that her brother Pax’s name projects an image of peace.

Marcheline is the French-sounding name of Angelina Jolie’s late mother, with whom she was very close, and whose heritage was French-Canadian and Native American.

Photos of the twins are expected to fetch close to $15 million dollars.

Local newspaper Nice Matin, which first broke news of the birth, reported Sunday that the couple have sold rights for the first photo of their newly enlarged family to a U.S. publication, which it did not name, and that the proceeds would go to charity.

The newspaper gave no source for that information. But the doctor told the AP the couple decided to announce the birth to Nice Matin first because of its links to Nice. The newspaper called the twins “the most famous babies in the world.”