Adoptees

Please sign the petition for release of the original birth certificate              

This is election year - get involved - S C Adoption Reform  - click here
Let us know your opinion !!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to register on this site.                                                                                                                                                    How to Tips

How to make contact -  good article

Obtaining Non-Identifying Information: An adopted adult, birth parents and adoptive parents can receive information at the discretion of the CEO of the adoption agency.    If the state has an adoption record of the adoption, they can release background info - currently the wait may be over a year.   S C Department of Social Services will provide non-identifying information on the adoptions that were done thru their agency as well as the Childrens Bureau.  When the Childrens Bureau closed those records were turned over to the state.    The state charges $35 for this service (you can asked that it can be waived)

Obtaining Identifying Information: An adopted adult age 21 or older can receive information on the birth parents and birth siblings, and birth parents and birth siblings can receive information regarding the adopted adult if affidavits with consent to release information have been filed with an agency. The agency must maintain a registry containing the affidavits of consent. All who register must go through counseling with the agency

Using the State Adoption Registry: The following persons may use the adoption registry provided by the state: adopted adults, birth parents and birth siblings either through the agency or State. Only if the state of SC - DSS has a record of the adoption will they allow someone to register.  If the adoption was handled privately (attorney or other agency) you can not register.

What type of information will I need for the State Adoption Registry?    
A Birthparent will need to provide:
Name of Child at Birth, Date of Birth, Sex of Child, Name of Birth Mother at time of birth, and you agree to the registry requirements and have it notarized and return.

An Adoptee will need to provide:
Adopted Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Name of Adopted Parents (include maiden name of the adopted mother) and agree to the registry requirements and have it notarized and return.

Example: The registry requirements are that you sign: (subject to change)   the state charges $10 to register with them (you can ask that this be waived)

I understand that:
.Completing and returning this affidavit enters my name on the Register.
.This affidavit will remain on file, unless I send a written request to have it removed.
.It is my responsibility to update this registration, in writing, if there is a change of name, address or telephone number.
.When a match occurs, the agency will contact me, using the latest information that I have provided, to schedule the required counseling.
.After the counseling is completed, the law requires a 30-day waiting period.
.At the end of the waiting period, I will receive notification of name, address and telephone number of the other party and I am at liberty to pursue the actual reunion in a mutually acceptable manner.

Example: AFFIDAVIT:
PERSONALLY APPEARS the undersigned party, who being duly sworn, deposes and says that as the biological parent/adoptee of the child named above, I am willing to have my identity, address and telephone number, shown below, revealed to this child, now an adult; that I freely and voluntarily release and hold harmless the State of South Carolina and its adoption agencies and all employees thereof from any liability which may accrue by reason of
the release and disclosure of this information.

Contact:
South Carolina Department of Social Services
(Bernadette L Rogers   803-898-7556) - no email provided
Adoption Reunion Registry
PO Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
(803) 734-6095
(800) 922-2504

Obtaining an Original Birth Certificate: An adoptee must petition the court in which the adoption was finalized

Florence Crittenton Home -   unwed mother's home in Charleston, SC
Mary Burgess               contact between 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM  (off on Tuesday)
843-722-7526
19 St. Margaret Street
Charleston, SC 29403
email: Flocrit@bellsouth.net
www.florencecrittentonsc.org

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charleston
1662 Ingram Rd
Charleston, SC 29407-4242
Phone: (843) 402-9115
Fax: (843) 402-9071

How to make contact -  good article to read

Sample Letters - coming soon 

Did the adoption go thru Tender Loving Care Adoption Agency-PTL (now closed) click here for info