Court Allows Tribe to Fight Baby’s Adoption by Non-Indians

In a 2-1 decision, an appellate court ruled Friday that an Aleut Indian tribe may intervene in an attempt by an ex-tribe member from Cypress to let a non-Indian couple adopt her 2-year-old daughter.

But the appellate jurists also ruled that the trial court must use federal guidelines that permit such non-Indian adoptions only if good cause exists.

“The appellate court’s directions are so specific it’s pretty clear to me they are saying the Indian tribe is not going to ever get that child,” said Sylvia Paoli, the Tustin attorney appointed by the court to represent the child’s interests.

The child’s mother, 20-year-old Jodi Argleben, gave birth in 1989. She was not married at the time. She wants her daughter, Rebecca, to be adopted by a Vancouver, Canada, couple.