After landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Hélène Marchal, whose Vietnamese name is Nguyen Thi Hong Loan, and her boyfriend travelled by coach to Pleiku Ward in Gia Lai Province.
For the French woman of Vietnamese origin, it was a journey unlike any other. After nearly 10 hours on the road, she was preparing to meet her birth mother for the first time in 29 years.
“I was overwhelmed and anxious on the bus, though I tried to get some sleep. When we finally met, we all burst into tears,” Hong Loan told Dantri.
Her return followed contact with the newspaper, which helped publicise her search.
Nguyen Thi Hong Loan returns to her homeland after 29 years (Photo: Provided by Hong Loan).
According to surviving documents, Hong Loan was born in 1997 in Pleiku. Her biological mother was recorded as Nguyen Thi Hoa. A few days after birth, she was left at Sao Mai Orphanage.
At nearly one month old, she was taken in by Huynh Thi Thang in An Giang Province. Soon afterwards, she was adopted by a French couple and moved to Europe.
She grew up in eastern France near the German border. Her adoptive parents had a son born in 1987.
“Their second child passed away in 1995, so they decided to adopt me,” she said.
Hong Loan as a child in France (Photo: Provided by Hong Loan).
Although raised in a loving home, Hong Loan said she always felt an inner void. Her adoptive parents never hid the fact that she was adopted from Vietnam, though as a child she struggled to accept it.
Over time, she said, she felt no resentment towards the mother who left her. Instead, she longed to understand who her birth mother was and why her life had taken a different path.
“My adoptive mother told me not to feel sad or angry. Giving up a child must have been an incredibly difficult decision,” she said.
For years, she searched online for clues about Pleiku and An Giang, without success. Later, after moving to Paris, she met many people of Asian origin, including Vietnamese friends. When she entered a serious relationship, her desire to find her roots grew stronger.
“After many years of living with that emptiness, I knew it was time to find my mother and my origins,” she said. Her adoptive parents and boyfriend supported her decision.
After posting information on social media, she received a response from a woman claiming to be her former caregiver in Long Xuyen. The claim proved false, leaving her shocked and hurt.
Refusing to give up, she contacted Dantri/Dtinews Newspaper to help spread her story.
Days later, a woman reached out, saying she was the sister of B.V., who lives in Pleiku Ward, after noticing striking similarities in the details. The name Nguyen Thi Hoa on the birth certificate, she learned, had been an alias.
Though hopeful, Hong Loan insisted on an ADN test before allowing herself to believe in a reunion.
On January 29, the testing centre confirmed she and B.V. shared a biological mother-daughter relationship.
“It felt like a dream,” she said.
In their first video call, both struggled to hold back tears. Carrying nearly three decades of guilt, B.V. repeatedly apologised to her daughter.
“I respect my mother’s decision at that time. Leaving me at the orphanage gave me the chance to have the life I have today,” Hong Loan said.
Before giving birth, B.V. had fallen in love with a man who left her when he learned of the pregnancy. Facing hardship, she left her newborn outside the orphanage days after delivery.
“My mother has carried this guilt for years, but I completely forgive her. At that time, it was the best solution she had,” Hong Loan said.
A Tet reunion in Vietnam
After their first video call, Hong Loan booked flights to Vietnam with her boyfriend in early February.
When she saw B.V. in person, she called her “mother” for the first time. Despite the language barrier, she said maternal love transcended words.
During nearly two weeks in Vietnam, the pair communicated through relatives who helped interpret. Hong Loan acknowledged that rebuilding their bond would take time.
“I can feel my mother still carries guilt, so we are both a little shy. But love and time will help heal the sadness of the past,” she said.
Hong Loan pictured with her mother in Pleiku (Photo: Provided by Hong Loan).
Returning to Vietnam during Tet, she felt the festive atmosphere in bustling streets and colourful flower markets. While she had seen Lunar New Year celebrations in Paris, she said Tet in Vietnam felt different, not just a holiday, but a moment of reunion.
She admitted the unexpected reunion has reshaped her future plans. She and her boyfriend intend to learn Vietnamese to communicate more easily with her maternal relatives.
“For now, I just want to cherish Tet and the love of my family here,” she said.
Hong Loan expressed deep gratitude to Dantri for helping reconnect her with her mother.
“I will always be thankful and cherish this support for the rest of my life,” she said.