Cate Blanchett reveals she and husband Andrew Upton adopted new daughter Edith from the United States as she's quizzed about Australia's tough adoption laws

By AAP REPORTER

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Cate Blanchett has revealed she adopted her new baby girl from the US.

The actress and her husband Andrew Upton recently welcomed a baby girl, Edith, into their family of three boys and Blanchett spoke briefly about her new daughter in Sydney on Sunday night.

The actress was quizzed about the adoption laws in Australia when she made the revelation.

American baby: Cate Blanchett has revealed on the red carpet at the Cinderella premiere in Sydney on Sunday night that she and her husband Andrew Upton adopted their baby girl Edith from America

American baby: Cate Blanchett has revealed on the red carpet at the Cinderella premiere in Sydney on Sunday night that she and her husband Andrew Upton adopted their baby girl Edith from America

'I think it is ... well I haven't been through it here. It was in the United States,' she told Fairfax Media.

'There's a lot of children out there that don't have the good fortune of our biological children so it's lovely to welcome a little girl. We're besotted,' she said.

The actress was walking the blue carpet in Sydney to promote her latest film, Cinderella, in which she plays the wicked stepmother.

'It's very exciting': Cate's husband, playwright Andrew Upton, told Daily Mail Australia the family were thrilled about the new addition at the premiere of Cinderella in Sydney on Sunday 

'It's very exciting': Cate's husband, playwright Andrew Upton, told Daily Mail Australia the family were thrilled about the new addition at the premiere of Cinderella in Sydney on Sunday 

Bringing her home: The Oscar-winning actress was seen holding her new daughter at Sydney airport earlier this month

Bringing her home: The Oscar-winning actress was seen holding her new daughter at Sydney airport earlier this month

Vocal: Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-Lee Furness moved to the US to adopt their two children, and have campaigned to make the process simple in Australia

Vocal: Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-Lee Furness moved to the US to adopt their two children, and have campaigned to make the process simple in Australia

SNAPSHOT: ADOPTION IN AUSTRALIA

  • A report titled Adoption Rethink released by Women's Forum Australia last year found there were just 339 adoptions in Australia from 2013 - 2013, a decline of 96.6% in the number of adoptions in the last 40 years
  • By comparison, there are an average of 127,000 in the US each year, and the figure is rising
  • The report found that Australia has one of the lowest rates of adoption among OECD countries 
  • Adoption campaigner and wife of Hugh Jackman Deborra-Lee Furness has said of her experience trying to adopt Down Under: 'The major problem in regards to adopting in Australia is the waiting time from the beginning of the process to actually picking up your child - it can take up to eight years. It is expensive too - costing up to $40,000 to adopt a child.'

Speaking about the recent adoption of their daughter, playwright Andrew told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's very exciting'. 

The beaming father hit the blue carpet at the iconic State Theatre ahead of his Oscar-winning wife who made a glamorous entrance in an A-line pink and purple patterned dress by Serbian designer, Roksanda Ilincic.

Another high-profile Australian couple that have been outspoken about their support of adoption is Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness. 

Deborra was nominated to be Australian Of The Year after her tireless campaigning to make the adoption process simple Down Under. 

The A-list pair have spoken previously about being forced to move overseas to be able to adopt their children, as the process has become near impossible in their home country.

The blonde beauty has more recently launched the Adopt Change campaign to lobby for national adoption law reform and even created National Adoption Awareness Week.

'For decades there was no talk around this, nothing was shifting, our kids in Australia were languishing in foster care,' she has said. 

Earlier this year she met with Prime Minister Tony Abbott to discuss improving the adoption process in Australia.  

 

 

Cate Blanchett

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