Carmen Lavallée is a tenured professor of law at Sherbrooke University. Her research focuses on the rights of the child in domestic and international law. She is the author of a book on adoption which compares legislation in France and in Québec (L’enfant, ses familles et les institutions de l’adoption: regards sur le droit français et québécois) and of a book devoted to the protection of children’s rights in international law (La protection internationale des droits de l’enfant, entre idéalisme et pragmatisme). She has also published several articles on domestic and international adoption. She is now conducting research in collaboration with Françoise-Romaine Ouellette which aims to document family and step-child adoptions. She was mandated by the provincial government to conduct a working group on Quebec’s domestic adoption policies in 2006-2007.