Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, her doctor at a hospital in southern France said today.
Oscar winner Jolie (33), had the twins by caesarean section yesterday evening at the Lenval hospital on the glamorous Promenade des Anglais waterfront drive in Nice. Brad Pitt was believed to be at her side.
The girl, named Vivienne Marcheline, weighed 2.27 kg (5.0 lbs) while her brother, Knox Leon, weighed an almost identical 2.28 kg, according to Jolie's doctor, Michel Sussmann.
"The parents and the babies are in excellent health. Everything is fine," Dr Sussmann told Reuters. He said the c-section had been planned for a long time but the date was brought forward "for medical reasons".
Marcheline was the name of Jolie's mother, also an actress, who died of cancer last year. Marcheline Bertrand raised Jolie and her brother, James Haven, after divorcing their father, actor Jon Voight, when Jolie was a toddler.
US representatives for the couple could not immediately be reached for comment, but Sussmann told People magazine that Pitt was at Jolie's side.
Jolie arrived at the Lenval hospital in late June by helicopter from the Provence villa where she and Pitt had been staying with their four other children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh.
A crowd of photographers and camera crews gathered outside the building today morning, braving the hot and humid conditions in hope of a glimpse of family and friends arriving to congratulate the parents.
Newspaper Nice Matin, which broke news of the birth, reported that the couple had sold exclusive rights to the first photographs of the twins to an unnamed US magazine for $11 million and would give the money to charity.
Nice Matin said Jolie, who had become weary of being indoors for so long but did not wish to be seen by paparazzi, had taken a walk on the roof of the hospital to take the air just two days before the birth.
REUTERS