Colorado educator reconnects with her roots, 50 years after she left orphanage in Vietnam
FOX31 Denver
[{'start': '5.572', 'end': '9.809', 'text': ">> ALL THIS WEEK WE'VE BEEN   SHARING THE FIRSTHAND STORIES   OF COLORADO VOLUNTEERS AND   ADOPTEES INVOLVED IN OPERATION   BABY LIFT ITS A HISTORY MAKING   EFFORT TO EVACUATE THOUSANDS   OF ORPHANS FROM VIETNAM. IN   THE FINAL DAYS OF THE WAR 50   YEARS AGO THIS MONTH. BUT   WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SOME OF   THOSE ADOPTEES WHO WOUND UP   HERE IN OUR STATE, WE MET ONE   WOMAN WHO'S BEEN A LIFELONG   QUEST TO FIND HER BIRTH   FAMILY. FOX THIRTY-ONE'S   JEREMY HUBBARD HAS THE STORY.   ME AND BROTHER AND THEN THAT   THIS PHOTOGRAPH CAPTURES THE   MOMENT JOINED. THEY WAITED 42   YEARS FOR FINALLY MEETING HER   BIRTHDAY. ADD IN PERSON. I   LOVE THIS PICTURE. IT WAS THE   CULMINATION OF A LIFETIME OF   CONFUSION, CURIOSITY AND SO   MANY QUESTIONS AS MUCH AS   PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR   TO THOSE TOP. SO THAT   HESITATION.   >> JOY IS A COLLEGE PROFESSOR   WITH A PHD WHO ALSO WORKS AS A   HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATOR. NOW.   LET'S 50 YEARS AGO SHE WAS A   BABY IN AN ORPHANAGE IN   VIETNAM. ONE OF THOUSANDS OF   VIETNAMESE CHILDREN ADOPTED BY   OVERSEAS FAMILIES DURING THE   WAR. IN 1973, THE LOCAL   NEWSPAPER IN LOVELAND,   COLORADO, DEVOTED THE WHOLE   PAGE TO THE AMERICAN FAMILY   THAT COULDN'T WAIT TO GREET   HER SAYS THE FAMILY EXPECTS   THE NEW GOVERNOR TERRORIZED   WARNING VIETNAM TO A   VIETNAMESE FATHER AND A   CAMBODIAN MOTHER. SHE WAS SENT   TO LIVE IN AN ORPHANAGE. SO I   15 MONTHS IN BILLINGS   SIBLINGS, 15 OR 17, DEPENDING   ON IS COUNTING AND HOWARD NOT   A LIVING. THAT WAS ONLY ONE OF   THE ENTIRE FAMILY TO BE   ADOPTED OUT. THE REST WILL   RAISE MY MY DAD.   >> THEN DNA TESTING CAME INTO   THE PICTURE AND I WAS CAN I   TEST IN 2010 WHEN WE DID A   REUNION WITH A BUNCH OF   ADOPTEES. AND I CAME BACK IN.   TAKE IT FOR LIKE A YEAR TO 7.   ON DESK FROM YEAR.   >> EVENTUALLY JOINED TOOK THAT   DNA TEST AND IT HELPED FILL IN   THE BLANK PAGES OF HER LIFE   STORY. FINALLY, A MATCH CAME   THROUGH THAT THE SECOND COUSIN   THINK I WAS THINKING, WELL   COUSINS PRETTY CLOSE TO A   FIRST COUSIN WHICH COULD BE   CLOSE TO THE CLOSE TO.   >> MY FAMILY. ULTIMATELY, I   CAME BACK WITH A MATCH THAT   THEY HAVE FOUND MY BROTHERS.   THEN FROM THERE MY MY   BIOLOGICAL FATHER, WHICH IS   INTERESTING,   >> A DECADE AGO SHE TRAVELED   TO VIETNAM NOT KNOWING WHAT TO   EXPECT. MY 2 BROTHERS MAY BE   AT THE AIRPORT. THEY TOOK ME   INTO THE AREA THAT WAS LIVING   IN HERE AND THE VIETNAMESE   COUNTRYSIDE IN THE SMALL HOME   THAT HE BUILT BY HIMSELF AND   BY HAND SET A 90 YEAR-OLD   STRANGER AT LONG LAST. THIS   WAS JOYCE BIRTH FATHER. SO HE   KNEW WHO I HE COULD SAY. AND I   WAS DOT SAYS, MY BROTHER,   SISTER AND THEN I WAS   CAMBODIAN. BUT THAN THAT OF I   COULDN'T COMMUNICATE MUCH   WITH.   >> WE ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW. AND   I THINK REALLY LUCKY THAT I DO   KNOW THERE'S NOT THAT MANY OF   US THAT ACTUALLY DID FIND   FAMILY AGAIN.   >> THAT WAS JEREMY HUBBARD   REPORTING. SO WHAT HAPPENED   NEXT? AND WHAT ABOUT HER QUEST   TO FIND OTHER BIRTH FAMILY   MEMBERS LEARN MORE ABOUT JOY'S   STORY IN A SPECIAL REPORT   AIRING THIS WEEKEND ABOUT   OPERATION BABY LIFT. ITS   C"}]