The Day the Daughter Given Away 44 Years Ago Returned

Upon seeing the woman on the phone screen who had a face strikingly similar to her third daughter, Mrs. Tran Phung Nga broke down in tears.

Beside her, Mr. Nguyen Trung Chanh, also wept. At nearly 70 years old, bedridden for many years and blind, he relied on an oxygen machine to survive. "Finally, I've lived to see this day," Mr. Chanh said.

Both parents had long believed they would never reunite with the daughter they gave away at 8 months old. But a miracle occurred 44 years later.

Ms. Le Hang (formerly known as Nguyet) on the day of reuniting with her parents in Dong Thanh commune, Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, October 15

In early 1980, Mrs. Nga gave birth to her fourth daughter, naming her Nguyen Thi Nguyet. When the baby was just a few months old, she placed her in a small aluminum basin and took her along while selling vegetables at the Old Market on Ham Nghi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

The couple had been living at the maternal grandparents' house near Cau Bong in Binh Thanh District. When the house was sold, Mrs. Nga and her husband moved to District 1 to continue their business. Before Nguyet was born, they already had three daughters. During the day, they sold goods, and at night, they slept wherever they could find space—at the market, under bridges, or any place they could rest. Their three daughters were cared for by relatives: one with the paternal side, one with the maternal side, and one had passed away due to illness. With no one else to rely on, Nguyet had to stay with her parents.

Baby Nguyet, with her fair skin and distinct cleft chin, was often adored by the women in the market. But due to malnutrition, she was frail, and her body was covered in sores. The second daughter, Mong Hien, occasionally visited her parents and was tasked with taking her baby sister out. Once, while passing a store selling palm sugar, her 8-month-old sister tugged at her, and Hien had to beg for some sugar. "She was so hungry that as soon as she got the sugar, she licked it eagerly," Hien recalled.

Nguyet cried every night from hunger. Fearing that their child would fall ill and die from living on the streets, Mrs. Nga and her husband decided to give her up for adoption, hoping she would have a better life.

In mid-1980, a woman named Muoi from Cho Gao, Tien Giang, who sold goods at the same market, introduced a childless couple from her village who wanted to adopt Nguyet. On the day they handed their daughter over, as the baby cried and clung to her mother, Mrs. Nga silently promised, "When we have a home, we will bring you back."

The couple's transient life continued. In 1987, Mrs. Nga gave birth to a fifth daughter and sought shelter with her in-laws. In 1994, after the birth of their youngest son, they managed to borrow money and buy a small house in Dong Thanh, Hoc Mon District. "Now, my only wish is to reunite with Nguyet," she told her husband.

The mother’s greatest fear was that her daughter might have been mistreated or unloved. "There were nights I had nightmares, dreaming that my child had died on the streets," she said.

Mrs. Nga searched for her daughter at the old market, asking about Muoi, only to find out that the family who adopted Nguyet had moved away, and no one knew their whereabouts. The only information she had was that Nguyet's adoptive parents had renamed her Le Hang.

Unable to find her daughter, Mrs. Nga’s guilt grew. Every time she passed the place where her daughter had once begged for palm sugar, she wept.

Her husband, Mr. Chanh, deeply empathized with his wife's sorrow but felt powerless. He often thought that if they ever reunited, the first thing he would do was apologize and hope their daughter would understand and forgive them for the difficult decision they had to make.

This thought stayed with him through years of being bedridden due to diabetes and pleural effusion. Twice, doctors thought he wouldn't survive, but Mr. Chanh held on.

"I have to live to see Nguyet and apologize to her. Only then will I find peace," he said to his children.

Ms. Le Hang (white shirt) reunited with her mother and siblings in her family, October 15.

Just 12 kilometers away, in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Mrs. Le Thi Le Hang had been searching for her biological parents on social media for the past six months. It was her third attempt.

Hang had known she was adopted since she was seven when she overheard neighbors talking. Afraid of upsetting her adoptive parents, she never asked them about it. Instead, she approached Mrs. Muoi, who lived nearby. While confirming that she was adopted, Muoi didn't provide any more details beyond the names of her biological parents and her original name.

"From then on, I was determined that once I earned enough money, I would find my birth family," Hang said.

After finishing seventh grade, Hang helped her adoptive parents with various jobs. At 21, after starting her own family, her desire to find her biological family resurfaced. She gathered more information from Mrs. Muoi and searched the Old Market, where Mrs. Nga and Mr. Chanh had lived, but no one knew anything. Later, she was directed to Cau Bong Market and then to Tay Ninh, but her search was unsuccessful.

Over time, financial difficulties forced Hang to abandon her search. In early 2024, a friend urged her to continue, reminding her that her biological parents were getting older and that delaying further might mean she would never meet them.

Hang decided to give it one more try.

In her social media post, the mother of three expressed her desire to find her biological family, saying, "I don't want to be alone and want to know where I came from." After months with no response, Hang thought her hope was lost.

Then, one day, the niece of Hang's sister, Mong Hien, happened to see the video Hang had posted searching for her family. She sent the video to Hien, asking, "Do you have any relatives named Hằng? You two look so alike."

Seeing someone who resembled her and recalling her missing sister, Hien watched the video, her hands trembling as she realized that the details matched their family’s story. "At that moment, I knew she was my sister," Hien said.

A phone call was arranged, and through the conversation, Mrs. Nga and Hien confirmed that Hang was indeed the lost child, Nguyet, recognizing her fair skin and deep cleft chin.

On October 15, after 44 years of separation, Hang finally reunited with her family. When Mr. Chanh, who had been on oxygen, saw his daughter, he managed to sit up and speak with her.

Beyond apologizing, he continuously thanked the heavens for allowing him to see his lost daughter in his final days. Due to his blindness, Mr. Chanh could only touch Hang’s face and said, "She must look like me."

His final wish is to regain his eyesight, even just once, to see his daughter. However, the family hasn’t been able to afford the eye surgery due to financial difficulties.