Adoption Records?

Question

I am helping a young lady who lives in TX. She was adopted as an infant in Louisianna about 15 years ago. Her adpotive mother has passed away this past summer in TX. They relocated to TX after Katrina. This young lady now is a ward of TX and in foster care. She cannot find her adoption papers that show her mom who passed away was her legal mom. This young lady has lost everything from Katrina and now she lost what little they had left because she cannot find the legal adoption papaers showing she is the "next of kin" to the belongings. How does one start a search for these documents?

Answer 1

Contact social services in the county she was born.  If she doesn't know, then contact the Dept. of Health and Human Services in the state she was born.  Good luck!

Answer 2

Wow, that is almost unfathomable. I don't see how adoption papers could be lost like that...perhaps the ones they had kept for themselves in their home but there are copies of these things filed all over the country. Anyhow...if the adoption was legit the records will turn up. You will need to contact the COUNTY in Louisianna where she was BORN (not nessecarily where she was adopted) and let them know what is going on. They should be able to help out. Good luck!

Answer 3

She will  have to contact the Department of Vital Statistics.  The other point of contact would be the agency that was used in the adoption.

Answer 4

I am trying to understand what she is trying to prove.  When she was adopted she was given an amended birth certificate with the woman who passed away listed as her parent.  The adoption papers are not a means of identification.  The TX foster care system would be the ones to contact the state of Louisiana to determine her parentage.  If the info above is correct, she is underage and unfortunately has no individual rights of her own if she is a ward of the state of TX.  

Her adoption records should be held in 2 places.  The state of LA as well as the agency that handled the adoption.  If she doesn't know the agency, the state can provide this information.  It is highly unlikely that either one will speak with her directly since she is a minor.  

Here is the contact information for the state of LA.

Louisiana Vital Records Registry

Office of Public Health

P.O. Box 60630

New Orleans, LA. 70160

Phone: [phone]

Good luck