The future of a young Afghan boy is uncertain after he lost his family in a U.S. nighttime raid in Afghanistan five years ago. A Virginia appeals court on Tuesday invalidated the adoption of an Afghan war orphan, nicknamed “Baby Doe” in court documents, by U.S. Marine Mast and his wife, Stephanie Mast. The court decided that Mast should not have been allowed to adopt Baby Doe. Baby Doe had been living with Mast and his wife for three years.
Baby Doe, who turns five this month, was orphaned in 2019 when his family was killed in a U.S. military raid in Afghanistan. 40 days after his birth, Baby Doe was found in rubble with life-threatening injuries. The Afghan government and the International Committee of the Red Cross determined that Baby Doe had surviving relatives and reunited him with them, as required by international law. After an investigation, the Afghan government determined that Baby Doe’s parents were nearby farmers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and not foreign fighters living in the al-Qaeda compound that was the target of the nighttime raid. However, when U.S. Marine Corps lawyer Maj. Joshua Mast heard about the case, he and his wife decided to adopt Baby Doe into their family as an act of their Christian faith.
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After hearing about the baby found in the rubble, Mast persuaded a judge in rural Fluvanna County, Virginia, to approve the adoption of Baby Doe. Baby Doe had been raised by a cousin and his wife. In the midst of the chaos of the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, Mast invited Baby Doe’s cousin and his wife to the United States, promising to provide Baby Doe with medical care and an education.
U.S. Marine Maj. Joshua Mast, center, talks with his attorney during a break in a hearing in an ongoing custody battle over an Afghanistan orphan, March 30, 2023, in Charlottesville, Virginia, Circuit Court. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, July 16, 2024, that a U.S. Marine should not have been allowed to adopt an Afghan war orphan, voiding the custody order he had relied on to raise the girl for nearly three years. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The couple, holding Baby Doe after narrowly escaping Taliban rule, met the Masts at Fort Pickett, Virginia, where thousands of Afghan refugees were brought. The Afghan couple were in tears of fear when the Masts took Baby Doe, who was then two years old. The Masts had told them they wanted to help the young Afghan family adjust to life in America and get an education for Baby Doe, but the couple misunderstood the situation.
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Baby Doe’s cousin and his wife have since settled in Texas and are continuing to fight to have Baby Doe back in their custody. NCIS and the Naval Office of Inspector General have launched investigations and gag orders have been issued against both. The Department of Defense said it cannot comment on ongoing cases.
British troops are working with US troops to evacuate eligible civilians and their families from the country in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 21, 2021. (Ministry of Defence Crown Copyright via Getty Images)
The Masts maintain they acted “honorably” and are Baby Doe’s legal parents. The Cousins have not seen Baby Doe in nearly three years.
Tuesday’s appeals court ruling did not clarify who will care for the 5-year-old Afghan girl, who will continue to live with the Mast family for the time being.
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In his ruling Tuesday, Circuit Judge Daniel Ortiz wrote that Mast’s adoption did not meet the standards set out in state law. Judge Ortiz said the circuit court lacked the authority to sign off on the adoption because the procedural errors that led to the adoption “far exceed the scope of adoption law.” Mast failed to tell the court in her initial adoption application that the Afghan government had never waived its rights to Baby Doe and that Baby Doe had been released to relatives in Afghanistan.
Several legal groups working with Afghan couples said they were encouraged by Tuesday’s court decision.
Afghan men and women line up in two rows to reach a counter at a hygiene distribution center at Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Virginia, on Dec. 16, 2021. Fort Pickett normally serves as a mobile training center for the Army National Guard, but as of Aug. 28, 2020, it has been converted into a facility capable of housing up to 10,000 Afghan refugees. (John Cherry/Getty Images)
“By stating explicitly that the Masts have no legal right to Baby Doe, the court has refused to legitimize their unlawful conduct – conduct that caused severe and unnecessary suffering,” Becky Wolozin, a senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, told The Associated Press.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
