NEW YORK —  Angelina Jolie (search), often photographed with her two children in her arms, says she wants to adopt again.

"It's a very special thing," the 30-year-old actress told People magazine at the recent Worldwide Orphans Foundation benefit in Manhattan. "There's something about making a choice, waking up and traveling somewhere and finding your family."

Jolie has a 4-year-old son, Maddox (search), who was adopted from Cambodia, and a 9-month-old daughter, Zahara (search), adopted from Ethiopia.

"Most of the night I just thought about how quickly I want to adopt again," she said. "There are so many wonderful places. There are many parts of Asia, Africa, South America, so sooner or later I'll end up everywhere, I'm sure."

Jolie announced at the Oct. 24 benefit that she is joining with Dr. Jane Aronson, the foundation's founder, to build a pediatric AIDS center in Ethiopia.

"I know some of the kids that were next to my daughter (at the orphanage); two of them passed away, with symptoms very similar to hers," she told People. "I really do believe that if I didn't get her out at that time, that she wouldn't be here. She was days away."

Is Maddox old enough to understand what adoption means?

"We've always addressed it," said Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations. "I say, `You're from Asia, you're from Cambodia. Asia is not Mommy's continent, it's your continent.' ... He knows where Zahara came from. It's pretty amazing."

Jolie credits Aronson, her children's pediatrician, with saving Zahara's life. "It was really tough. You need this wonderful, calm doctor who tells you everything is going to be OK."