Please sign the petition for release of the original birth certificate
Get involved with Legislation !!!!!!!

 

Don't forget to register 

How to make contact - good article to read                                                                                                                          How to Tips

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.    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.

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: adopted adults, birth parents and birth siblings. Only if the state of SC - DSS has a record of the adoption as being handled by them. They will send you a form to register. If the adoption was handled privately (attorney or other agency) you can not register.  There may be a small charge for their registry.
 

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 Birth Parent  will need to provide:
Name of Child at Birth, Date of Birth, Sex of Child, Name of Birth Mother at time of birth, and agree to the registry requirements and have it notarized and return.

Example: The registry requirements are that you sign (subject to change)

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
Adoption Reunion Registry
PO Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
(803) 734-6095
(800) 922-2504
 

Florence Crittenton Home -   unwed mother's home in Charleston, SC
Mary  Burgess
843-722-7526
19 St. Margaret Street
Charleston, SC 29403
email: Flocrit@bellsouth.net
www.florencecrittentonsc.org
 

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

How to make contact -  good article to read

Sample Letters - coming soon

A birth mother is entitled to her medical records -  You might consider writing the hospital where the child was born and request your admission, delivery and discharge records. (this will also confirm the date/time/weight). 

Was the adoption handled by Tender Loving Care Adoption Agency - PTL - (now closed) click here for info 

IIMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!!!!!.........  If you use a paid search / investigator, do not pay  any money up front, make sure they are licensed by the state and get the license number,  S.C. state law required that an investigator licensed in S.C. to provide a contract to the client that states total cost, time to complete, information to be provided to the client, how often you will get a follow-up, etc.   We have recently been told of several searchers/companies that people paid money for up front and did not get a completed search.