An ancient institution, the kafala, is an important means of protection for the child deprived of a family, which has been implemented in different ways in Islamic countries. Unprecedented in Quebec, this particular institution concerns professionals, lawyers and legal experts as to its exact nature, effects and consequences. It has thus been frequently used as a convenient expedient towards the adoption, by an individual domiciled in the Province, of a Muslim child whose personal status law prohibits adoption. The introduction of kafala challenges the contemporary methodology of conflicts of laws in its capacity to accommodate institutions that are either little known or unknown. With its legal essence that is difficult to grasp, the kafala is usually deemed too original to be integrated in the “adoption” category. Does that really mean we should persist in disregarding its essentiality? The author precisely tries to demonstrate the opposite. Contradictory responses from Quebec law governing international adoptions, divided between an attitude of withdrawal and will for generous opening, suggest a more liberal evolution of private international law rules when challenged with cultural pluralism.