Angelina Jolie separated from Brad Pitt for the ''wellbeing'' of her family.

The 'Mr. & Mrs Smith' star has spoken up about why she decided to end her marriage with the actor, admitting she did it for the sake of her and Brad's six children - Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 11-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

Speaking about her decision, she said: ''I separated for the wellbeing of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing.''

The 45-year-old actress has remained silent on the ins and outs of her divorce but admits it has meant many ''lies'' have surfaced about what really happened.

She added: ''Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people.''

And Angelina has opened up about how she adopted some of her children, and how exciting and wonderful their journeys have been.

Speaking to the Indian edition of Vogue magazine, she shared: ''Each is a beautiful way of becoming family. What is important is to speak with openness about all of it and to share. 'Adoption' and 'orphanage' are positive words in our home. With my adopted children, I can't speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for the first time.

She added: "All adopted children come with a beautiful mystery of a world that is meeting yours. When they are from another race and foreign land, that mystery, that gift, is so full. For them, they must never lose touch with where they came from."