On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, more popularly known as the Baby Veronica case.

The controversy stems from a 2011 decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court concerning the parental rights of a 2-year-old child of both Caucasian and Native American descent–dubbed Baby Veronica.

According to the South Carolina court transcripts, in December 2008, Christina Maldonado, a white woman, and Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation, became engaged. The following month, Maldonado learned that she was pregnant. Brown, who at the time was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, pressed to move up the wedding date. Five months later, citing the increased pressure to marry, Maldonado ended their engagement. Shortly after, she began the process of placing the child up for adoption.