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15 S.U. L. Rev. 353 (1988)
Trans-Racial Adoption: The Genesis or Genocide of Minority Cultural Existence

handle is hein.journals/soulr15 and id is 359 raw text is: TRANS-RACIAL ADOPTION: THE GENESIS OR GENOCIDE OF MINORITY CULTURAL EXISTENCE INTRODUCTION Adoption is the legal process pursuant to a state statute in which a child's legal rights (absent inheritance rights) and duties regarding his natural parents are discontinued, and similar rights and duties toward his adoptive parents are sub- stituted.' The primary purpose of adoption is to advance the well-being of the child by placing him in a stable loving family unit.2 A problem arises when the child's legal rights and du- ties are discontinued from its natural parents, and no accept- able adoptive parents exist for those rights and duties to attach. There are presently 748 children in Louisiana seeking permanent placement through the vein of adoption.3 These are homeless, hopeless, idle children who have lost their past and are desperately searching for a prosperous future. Due to society's negative reinforcements, their futures rest in the arms of the legislature, judiciary and state agencies. In an ef- fort to ensure that the child's fate will be enhanced by adop- tion, Louisiana has established four (4) broad criteria to de- termine the appropriateness of the prospective adoptive parents. These criteria are: (i) The best interest of the child as the primary consideration; (ii) The existence of psychological parent-child bonds be- tween the child available for adoption and significant adults in the child's past; (iii) The ability of a family to meet the needs of the child; (iv) Placement in a geographical and cultural environment where the child is familiar and comfortable. If placement 1. BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 45 (5th ed. 1979). 2. O'Brien, Race in Adoption Proceedings: The Pernicious Factor, 21 TULSA LAW JOURNAL 485(1986). 3. Telephone Interview with Marlyn Hayes, Director of the Division of Chil- dren, Youth and Family Services, (September 14, 1987). 353

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