Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in Afghan adoption case involving Virginia family

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a contested adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned during a U.S. Army raid, WTOP reported. The child’s relatives sought to overturn the adoption after a U.S. Marine who helped evacuate them from Afghanistan took custody of the girl despite efforts by the State Department to reunite her with her Afghan family.

The child’s parents died in a 2019 raid by U.S. Army Rangers and Afghan forces. The baby was found in the rubble and hospitalized at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, where military lawyer Joshua Mast and his wife decided to adopt her, according to the Associated Press.

The State Department, during the Trump administration, worked with the Afghan government to locate surviving relatives, who cared for the child for 18 months. However, the Masts obtained a final adoption order from a Virginia court without informing the relatives.

In 2021, Mast helped the family leave Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal and took custody of the child at a refugee resettlement center, despite objections from her Afghan relatives. Lower Virginia courts initially sided with the relatives, but the state’s highest court ruled in favor of the Masts, citing a legal deadline.

The Supreme Court appeal was supported by a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and groups advocating for veterans and international adoptees. The Masts argue that reopening the adoption would disrupt the child’s life, as she has lived with them for years and is now seven years old.