Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in disputed Afghan adoption case

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Afghan relatives’ appeal challenging the adoption of a girl orphaned as an infant during a 2019 U.S. military raid, leaving Virginia’s ruling in favor of Marine Corps attorney Joshua Mast and his wife in place. The State Department had helped locate the girl’s surviving relatives, who cared for her for about 18 months, but the Masts obtained a Virginia adoption order without notifying them. After helping the Afghan family evacuate to the United States in 2021, Mast took custody of the child over their objections. Virginia’s highest court upheld the adoption based on a state law’s six-month deadline for challenging final adoption orders; the relatives argued the adoption was flawed, while the Masts say they acted to provide the girl a loving home and dispute the relatives’ claims.