Hollywood actress ANGELINA JOLIE nearly opted out of adopting her first child because she feared she wouldn't be a good mother.

The star adopted her son Maddox, six, from Cambodia in 2002, but admits it wasn't until she held him that she realised she was ready for the challenge of motherhood.

She says, "They put him (Maddox) 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 mom because I'm not so sure about myself - am I going to be the best mom?

"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 has two other adopted children with her partner Brad Pitt - Pax, three, from Vietnam; and Zahara, two, from Ethiopia - as well as their own biological daughter, 19-month-old Shiloh
Tiscali