Cold war maternalism: The ideological legacy of <i>Operation Babylift</i> and intercountry adoption law

Abstract By examining the ideological legacy of Operation Babylift, this article explores the interplay of ideology, power, and intercountry adoption law. Operation Babylift, a U.S. military humanitarian mission in April 1975, airlifted 2,547 children from Vietnam for adoption abroad. Among these adoptees, approximately 1,000 had no valid parental consent or proper documentation. Nguyen v. Kissinger—a class action on behalf of the Operation Babylift adoptees and dozens of lawsuits by some adoptees’ mothers were brought in American courts for the adoptees’ reunification with their mothers and families. The article recounts the rise of Cold War maternalism that laid the ideological and political groundwork for Operation Babylift. Tracing the legislative and policy changes intercountry adoption laws in both South Vietnam and the United States, the article demonstrates how Cold War maternalism eroded legal protections for Vietnamese parents and children American adoption from Vietnam. Through analyses of the reunification cases stemmed from Operation Babylift, the article illustrates the tension and struggles between Cold War maternalism and American courts’ commitment and limitations in protecting the Vietnamese mothers’ parental rights. The article concludes that intercountry adoption law must move away from separating the child's wellbeing from their mother's rights to effectively prevent systemic injustice.