A Virginia appellate court ruled Tuesday that a US Marine should never have been granted an adoption of an Afghan war orphan and voided the custody order he's relied on to raise the girl for nearly three years. The decision marked a major turning point in a bitter custody battle that has international ramifications far greater than the fate of one child, the AP reports. The appeals court decision dealt a significant blow in Marine Maj. Joshua Mast's yearslong legal quest to keep the child, who was orphaned on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2019.
Mast and his wife, Stephanie, convinced the courts in his hometown in rural Fluvanna County, Virginia, to grant him an adoption of the child, even though she remained in Afghanistan as the government there tracked down her extended family and reunited her with them. The family fled Afghanistan with thousands of other evacuees when the Taliban took over in the summer of 2021. Once she arrived in the United States, Mast used the Fluvanna County documents to convince federal government officials to take the child from her Afghan relatives and give her to him.
She turns five years old this month. The Masts have insisted they are her legal parents and "acted admirably" to save a child in a desperate and dangerous situation. The Afghan family, who challenged Mast's adoption, have not seen her for nearly three years. The child's fate is still in limbo: The decision by the appellate court Tuesday does not clarify who should ultimately get to raise the girl, and she remains with the Mast family for now. No government agencies involved would clarify Tuesday what the next steps might entail, or what their role might be in determining where the child should live as the remaining legal fight unfolds. The Masts could appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court and ask that Tuesday's decision not be enforced through that process. (For more of the twists and turns in the case, see the AP.)
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