Post-Adoption Services

The information available to access varies based on your relationship to the adoptee and/or the birth parent. Please see our Search & Reunion Policy here for more information.

Records from adoptions that took place in Boston, Brockton, Cambridge/Somerville, Merrimack Valley (Lowell/Lawrence), Peabody, and Lynn, as well as records from the agency Adoption Associates for All Children, Inc.

The best way to access your pre-adoption birth certificate is through the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Please see their website for more information: https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-pre-adoption-birth-record

Our files are stored in various locations and must be located and retrieved by our Post-Adoption Team. Once the file is retrieved, our team reviews the file and uses the information within to create a non-identifying profile summary. This summary includes information that has been de-identified to maintain confidentiality. Non-identifying profile summaries can be compiled with information on adoptees, birth parents, and/or adoptive families. These summaries include de-identified information such as medical history, physical description, education level, ethnicity, interests/hobbies, age, employment status/job description, status of birth parents’ relationship.

A search is conducted using information available within the adoption records to locate a member of the adoption constellation, typically an adoptee or birth parent. When a search is requested, the Post-Adoption Servies Team acts as a facilitator between the requestor of the search and the subject of the search. Please note that Catholic Charities may or may not be able to locate the subject of the search. In the event this person is located, Catholic Charities may not be able to obtain consent to facilitate contact.

Please note that as of July 2026, these records are no longer maintained by Catholic Charities Boston. Please contact the Office of the Archdiocese of Boston at archive@rcab.org or call 617-254-0100 and ask for Archives. For further information, please see https://bostoncatholic.org/archives

Proof needs to be provided that the adoptee is deceased and that the applicant is the child of the adoptee. To do so, we request a copy of the adoptee’s death certificate as well as a copy of the applicant’s birth certificate be included with the application.

Based on the diocese within which the adoption was completed, the records may be with a different Catholic Charities office. Please reach out to the office closest to where the adoption took place. Additionally, the adoption may have been facilitated through the Department of Social Services (DSS), now known as the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Please contact the DCF office closest to where the adoption took place.

The Post-Adoption Services Team cannot guarantee a specific timeline for the completion of any requested service. Due to the variable nature of each request and the uniqueness of each adoption case, the timeline can vary greatly. The Post-Adoption Services Team endeavors to keep applicants updated on the status of their requests.