America's highest court is deciding the fate of a three-year-old girl who was adopted at birth but then forcibly returned to her Native American father.
The case is the first time in 14 years and only the second time ever that the US Supreme Court has been asked to rule on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978.
The law was intended to prevent Native American children from being separated from their families.
Matt and Melanie Capobianco are appealing a 2011 family court decision that annulled their adoption and transferred custody of Veronica, aged two at the time, to Dusten Brown after DNA tests proved his paternity.
He had renounced his parental rights during the pregnancy but changed his mind when he heard about the adoption.
The decision was upheld in July, when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled with a "heavy heart" in favour of the biological father, a decision the dissenting justices described as a "human tragedy".
Now three years old, Veronica lives with Mr Brown and his new partner in Oklahoma.
The adoptive parents, who are supported by the biological mother, protested to the US Supreme Court.
They argue the ICWA does not apply in 11 other US states where Native American tribes are located.
They say the judgement would have been different if the adoption had taken place elsewhere.
The couple's lawyer, Lisa Blatt, called the situation "absurd" and "Kafkaesque" in arguments on Tuesday before the US Supreme Court.
She said it could effectively ban cross-racial adoption of Native American children.
But the biological father, who is supported by the Cherokee Nation, got an unexpected boost from two of the justices.
"He's the father," said Antonin Scalia.
"If the father's fit, why do you think that the federal statute requires that it be given to a stranger rather than to the biological father?", said Sonia Sotomayor.
The Capobiancos had made seven unsuccessful IVF attempts before the adoption.
They also financed part of the medical costs for the child's birth mother, who was not Native American, attended the September 2009 birth and returned to South Carolina with Veronica when she was just eight days old.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who has two adopted children himself, seemed to lean in favour of the Capobiancos when Mr Brown was described in court as excited about being a father.
"He was excited by it. He just didn't want to take responsibility," the judge said.
A decision is expected in late June before the court ends its session.
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