Jolie feared being a bad mother

Angelina Jolie has revealed that she feared she would not make a good mother before adopting her first child.

The actress said she only felt confident about her abilities when she held Cambodian son Maddox for the first time in 2002.

She said: "They put him in my arms and I stared at him and I started crying and he smiled. I hadn't held children before in my life.

"I was always considered so dark and I thought maybe I shouldn't be someone's mum because I'm not so sure about myself - am I going to be the best mum?"

She added: "The fact that this little kid seemed so at ease gave me the courage to feel I could make him happy and so we became a family."

Jolie now has two other adopted children and a biological daughter with partner Brad Pitt.

She recently took top spot in a poll of the most respected celebrity do-gooders of 2007.