Lori Congleton v. Holy Cross Child Placement Agency, Inc.

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

Lori Congleton, a Missouri resident and the birth mother of an infant boy placed for adoption by Holy Cross Child Placement Agency, a Louisiana Corporation, brought this diversity action in federal district court seeking a judgment declaring invalid a contract purportedly surrendering her parental rights. The district court dismissed the action without prejudice, relying on the so-called “domestic relations” exception to federal diversity jurisdiction. We affirm.

I

Congleton gave birth on April 5, 1989, in Opelousas, Louisiana, and on April 9, 1989…