Viet Nam Family Search

Our shared journey

We are an adoptee-led not-for-profit organization that offers search services for Vietnamese first families. As an adoptee-led organisation, we will ensure that first families will be supported by a network of people who will bring lived experience and insight to support them on their journey.

We work from the perspective that each journey is unique and that understanding the story of each person we work with is integral to the process of searching. We operate from the principles of integrity, accountability, and empathy and place priority on the person at the centre of the journey.

Our work involves collaboration with other trusted organisations within Vietnam that can provide access to translators and advocates who help to navigate cultural barriers and language differences. We have access to records that may further assist with your searching.

“We prioritise the person at the centre of each journey.”

Our history

Viet Nam Family Search was born out of the need to create an adoptee-led, community-based search service which provided culturally appropriate support for Vietnamese first families.

Prior to our formation in the early 2000s, adoptees had developed informal networks of support for Vietnamese adoptees and their first families. As online discussion boards and social media developed over time, intercountry adoptees were able to connect globally and organise to advocate for one another and first families.

In 2005, the documentary Operation Babylift was written and produced by an adoptee, Dai Le. With the creation of this documentary, global connections were forged between the founding members of Viet Nam Family Search, Sue-Yen Luiten (Western Australia), My Huong Le (Vietnam), and Jason Kayser (United States).

In April of 2025, a commemorative bike ride was held in Viet Nam to promote awareness and commemorate 50 years from the conclusion of the war. The event brought together adoptees from around the world, and facilitated the provision of support for first families and communities in need. The event garnered international media coverage, and marked a monumental opportunity to reach first families searching for relinquished children.

Going forward, Viet Nam Family Search is prioritising work with first families to support and facilitate searching for children separated from parents prior to May 1975 as a result of the war.