Two days after meeting her biological daughter who traveled from France to Vietnam, Nguyen Trung Hiep, 55, from Xuyen Moc Commune, Xuyen Moc District in Ba Ria – Vung Tau shared her happiness with VietNamNet, recounting the unexpected reunion after 27 years and the family’s past struggles.

She said: “I just hope my children don’t hate me.”

Hiep said she was born and raised in Xuyen Moc Commune. In 1997, after a failed first marriage, she wed Nguyen Van Tien from Hoa Hiep Commune in the same district. In October 1998, they welcomed twin girls, Nguyen Thi Kim Hong and Nguyen Thi Kim Loan.

It was a very tough time: both of them worked hard but barely scraped by. Hearing that many foreign couples were coming to Vietnam seeking children to adopt, they considered giving up one of the twins, hoping for a better life for her.

Through connections, they decided to let a French couple adopt the elder twin, Kim Hong, when the girls were just one month old.

“It broke my heart, but we were so poor that we couldn’t even feed ourselves, let alone raise kids. We gave her up hoping she’d have a fuller, better life over there,” Hiep said.

Initially, they planned to give up only one child and raise the other, but the French couple wished to adopt both so the sisters could grow up together in France. After much deliberation, Hiep and her husband agreed.

Recalling those desperate days, Hiep teared up: “What parent doesn’t love their child? Back then, we thought we’d lose them forever—rarely do adoptive parents bring kids back to meet their birth parents. Poverty left us no room to think otherwise.”

Hiep recounted how the French couple thoughtfully took photos of their meeting and farewell in HCM City before taking the twins to France. “Later, I learned their kind intention was to let the girls find us when they grew up. Those photos became precious keepsakes, helping them return to Vietnam and find me,” she said.

Hiep and her husband had another daughter in 2001. About a decade later, her husband fell ill and passed away, prompting her to leave the village and return to Xuyen Moc to live.

Reunion

After 27 years apart, on March 17, with help from Hoa Hiep Commune Police and local authorities, Kim Hong reunited with her birth mother, Hiep. The meeting left both in a flood of tears.

“That day, I was home when Hoa Hiep Police called, urging me to come to the police station because my daughter Hong and relatives from France were there looking for me. When I arrived and stepped out of the car, I hugged her tight. Her face was the spitting image of her father’s. I cried, and she cried. It was so sudden and joyful—I never dreamed of this day,” Hiep recalled.

Hong told Hiep that her twin, Kim Loan, is doing well with their adoptive parents in France and hopes to meet her soon. Hong had visited Vietnam multiple times before to find her birth parents, always with her adoptive parents’ support, but was unsuccessful until now.

“Seeing my kids healthy makes me so happy. I just hope they understand and don’t hate us for not fulfilling our duties as parents,” Hiep said.

Earlier, on March 17, at 10 am, Kim Hong, whose French name is Ms Charlotte Gabrielle Saltet de Sablet D'estieres, 27, of French nationality, visited the Hoa Hiep Commune Police Station to request assistance in locating her biological parents. She and her relatives had traveled from France to Vietnam and were staying in Ho Tram.

Major Nhu Van Thuan, Deputy Chief of Hoa Hiep Commune Police, who facilitated the reunion, said verifying Hiep’s whereabouts was tricky at first. Commune names had changed, and Hiep no longer lived there.

Plus, Hong couldn’t speak Vietnamese, complicating communication until an interpreter stepped in.

With the information provided by Hong, the police shared details through various groups, local units, and communes to establish connections. After two hours of verification, the police confirmed that Nguyen Trung Hiep had moved to live in Xuyen Moc Commune, while her husband had passed away years earlier.

“Seeing them reunite after all those years, tears streaming down their faces in happiness, even I couldn’t hold mine back,” Thuan shared.

Quang Hung