Minnesota State Resources

A new state law went into effect in Minnesota in June 2024 regarding access to adoption records. You can begin with the following resources to find out more.

Information about Adoptions in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

If you were adopted from an institution within the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and are searching for information on your own baptismal certificate, please contact Lutheran Social Service, which handles post-adoption services for Catholic Charities: pas@chlss.org

Orphans

If you are looking for records of individuals who were in Catholic orphanages in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis before 1920 (e.g., one of the St. Joseph’s Homes or Catholic Orphan Asylums), please email records@archspm.org with the name of the person, name and location of the orphanage, and relevant dates. The Archives and Records Management staff will review to determine if we might have relevant records in our collection.

Children’s Home Society Records

The University of Minnesota has an archival collection of Children’s Home Society records from 1891-2004. The records are organized by boxes and there is a lot of information to sort through- it provides background information on the history of the organization.

PGS-MN Newsletter Articles

(You will need to scroll down to the page indicated to find the article within the newsletter link)

newsletter	page	title/author
Spring 2013	1	Out-of-Home Placements for Abused, Neglected, and Dependent Children in Minnesota: A Historical Perspective by Marian E. Saksena
Spring 2013	3	Adoption History and Records by Gary Debele