In re Adoption of F.H.
Supreme Court of Alaska
851 P.2d 1361 (1993)
The Hartleys (plaintiffs), a non-Indian couple, petitioned to adopt F.H., an infant girl at risk of developmental issues from prenatal alcohol exposure and a member of the Native Village of Noatak (defendant), which opposed the adoption alongside Alaska's Division of Family and Youth Services (defendant); the birth mother, after considering several potential adoptive families including a cousin, ultimately chose and consistently supported the Hartleys, while stating she no longer associated with Noatak. Guardians ad litem agreed adoption by the Hartleys served F.H.'s best interests given her strong bond with them, and the trial court granted the adoption over the tribe's and DFYS's objections, which invoked ICWA's statutory placement preferences favoring extended family, tribal members, or other Indian families.
Whether an Indian child may be adopted by a non-Indian couple when good cause exists to deviate from the Indian Child Welfare Act's adoptive-placement preferences.