Supreme Court Upholds US Adoption of Orphaned Afghan Baby

An American couple will keep their adopted Afghan child despite claims from her relatives that she was taken illegally. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Monday, ending a legal battle that has lasted years.

Baby Doe became an orphan in September 2019 when US military action killed her parents in rural Afghanistan. She was only two months old and found amidst rubble near Bagram Airfield. Marine Joshua Mast discovered the infant there and decided with his wife Stephanie to adopt her immediately.

They petitioned a judge in Fluvanna County, Virginia, for custody in November 2019. The court granted it, labeling the child a stateless minor recovered off the battlefield. Yet, the State Department insisted international law required reuniting her with next of kin. Officials eventually sent her to live with a cousin and his wife instead.

The Afghan couple raised Baby Doe for about eighteen months until Mast expressed deep concerns over her health and the rising threat from the Taliban. In 2021, he helped them leave Afghanistan for the US via a refugee resettlement center. A social worker then informed the biological family that the Masts were now legal guardians.

Lower courts in Virginia initially sided with the relatives who demanded adoption be undone. But the state's highest court ruled for the Masts, citing a strict six-month deadline under state law. The Supreme Court denied review Monday, confirming Baby Doe will stay with her adoptive parents at age seven.

Federal complaints filed in September 2022 by the Afghan couple detail how she first went to her paternal uncle after suffering severe burns and injuries. The uncle transferred guardianship to his newlywed son because he claimed better access to doctors. Meanwhile, Mast had already planned the adoption before learning about the reunion attempt.

Mast wrote to the Attorney General's office in November 2019 stating they would file for adoption as soon as possible. He enrolled her in Defense Department health care and made appointments at an International Adoption Clinic. His team tried to stop officials from handing her over using cease and desist letters sent to the US Embassy.

Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, facilitated the arrival of an Afghan family in the United States during August 2021. Over time, they turned to a lawyer to locate the child Joshua believed was trapped in a dangerous spot, according to court records. That search worked, and their legal representative managed to contact the couple back. Meanwhile, a Virginia state judge signed off on a final adoption order for the Masts in December 2020. The ruling noted that the girl remained an orphaned, undocumented, stateless minor at that time. Laws in Afghanistan strictly forbid non-Afghan Muslims from holding guardianship or custody over Muslim Afghan children, which is exactly the situation involving the Masts.

The family first spoke with Mast on July 10, 2021, right around the time Baby Doe turned two years old. Mast warned them that the little girl could go blind, suffer brain damage, or be permanently disabled without medical treatment in America, as stated in the filing. When the United States pulled out of Afghanistan that August, Joshua and Stephanie grew worried about the Taliban's advance. They urged the family to bring Baby Doe to the US before the nation fell apart. Following a grueling flight with a stop in Germany, they landed at Dulles International Airport on August 29.

When officials asked for their passports for review, the couple reportedly explained that the child was too young to have Afghan papers. At that moment, they claim Joshua Mast produced an Afghan passport for her bearing his own last name instead of theirs. He told them not to mention the name change, arguing it would make getting medical care in America much simpler. In January 2023, Mast admitted he did not believe he had used the word adoption when talking to the Afghans about the girl. The family was moved to refugee housing at Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Virginia, according to the lawsuit. Joshua allegedly directed them to ask for that specific location.

On September 3, a social worker told them they were not Baby Doe's lawful guardians because the Masts had legally adopted her. The Afghan parents reportedly did not grasp what adoption meant but understood the girl would be taken by Mast. The woman fell to the floor weeping and begging, per the suit. In January 2023, Mast acknowledged he likely hadn't used the term adoption during his communications with the Afghans. We were trying to explain it in a way they could understand, because they lack the concept of adoption in Afghanistan, he told CBS News. His wife, Stephanie, added that the understanding was clear this was a long-term commitment spanning childhood all the way to adulthood.

The Court of Appeals of Virginia overturned Mast's adoption of Baby Doe in July 2024. They ruled he received custody after lying to a local court about facts relevant to her case. However, the Virginia high court reversed that decision in February. This action led to an appeal that the Supreme Court declined on Monday. The Daily Mail has contacted attorneys representing both the Masts and the Afghan family for comment.