South Carolina Department of Social Services

Post Adoption Records Request

If you were adopted through the South Carolina Foster Care System (DSS, The Children’s Bureau, etc) and are over the age of 21, you are eligible to request a copy of your finalized adoption record. Please note that we cannot provide original birth certificates. South Carolina Department of Social Services does not have private adoption records.

Please note: South Carolina is a closed adoption state, so therefore you may see some items have been redacted. South Carolina law prohibits the release of identifying information, including but not limited to names and geographic designations, possibly also redacting names of birth parents or perhaps others living in the home at the time. All redacted records are made directly from the record on file with DSS. As you read the information, please keep in mind that the information provided by the client was accepted as accurate and current information. Some of this information can be very sensitive in nature and may be new information for you. For some recipients of information, it can be stressful or even a painful experience to go back through the history of a family in crisis or in need of assistance from our agency.

Also please note that some comments made by those who made record may have included the type of comments that would not be made in modern times, and they usually reflect the attitudes of the individual and social time period. The agency can assume no responsibility for the personal comments and/or remarks made by those workers many years, or decades ago.

Reunion Registry

The South Carolina Department of Social Services Reunion Registry exists to facilitate the mutually sought reunion of adoptees aged 21+ with their biological parents, biological grandparents, and/or biological siblings aged 21+. The adoption must have handled through SC’s child welfare system. Each party must submit an online application informing the agency of their interest in reuniting and furnishing information that might prove sufficient to identify a match, along with a notarized affidavit authorizing the agency to disclose the applicant's identity to associated parties should such a match be found.