G2G: Are Louisiana Adoption Records sealed? Looking for Fuller child from Louisiana

Question

My grandmother was Elsie Darlene Fuller (1941-2003). She was born and raised in Louisiana and was married to my grandfather, Donald Morris Glennon (1927-1996). They had three children together one of which was my father. Recently, I was looking through some old photos that belonged to her and have come across two pictures of a baby named Donna Lynn, filed away as if it was hidden. All it reads on the back is "Donna Lynn, 2 weeks - smiling". Her middle name is the same as my father's but this isn't either of my dad's siblings. I suggested maybe my grandmother had put a child up for adoption but he refuses to acknowledge the possibility of that. I don't have anyone to ask on the subject since all of her siblings have long since passed.

I was wondering if there's any possible way I could get into Louisiana Adoption Records from the 1960's? Or possibly prior to that? I don't know why she would have given up a child or even if its hers but I can't just live my life not knowing this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

Is this her ?

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=147205586&ref=acom

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Hm, no, I don't think so. She'd have to have been born sometime in the 1960's since my grandma was born in 1941. And Lynn was her middle name, not last name.

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You shouldn't assume she was a child of Elsie's that was given away. She could have been a sister  or maybe cousin of Elsie or Donald that perhaps died young and the picture a painful reminder of the loss but cherished and kept.

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Well, I mean she may not have been. But things seem to point to her being so. I'm really not sure at all... No, it's not a sibling because I've checked the names of both my grandparents' siblings and there weren't any. Besides that though, it was a more recent-looking picture. If it had been older than the 1960's, it would have looked older and more like the pictures of my grandma as a kid. It's too bad it's not a picture of an older child cause then I could compare to see if the baby looked like my grandma or not...

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Have you checked the children of your grandparents siblings? She might have been a niece or goddaughter

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Adoption records

 

http://www.dss.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=116

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Adoptions are sealed. Records may be opened through lawsuit on a case by case basis primarily for medical reasons

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Well, on that note I'm not 100% sure. My grandmother had a brother who supposedly married a woman in a different state before they divorced and he moved back to Louisiana. I'm not sure if they ever had children or not, though.

Ohh, I see. Hm, well that puts a bit of a brick wall in the way of my search... Well, thank you for looking for me anyway! There may not be a way around that at all. Hm, I guess I may look and see though if any birth announcements were ever listed in a newspaper around that time. See what I can come up with maybe that way...

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Check for cemetery records in your grammy's area too. If they were Catholic, the families probably used the cemetery associated with their church. With all the hurricanes and floods Louisiana's been through, some records did get lost.

Wikitree member Lynn Wiggers has done extensive work on her Louisiana lines. She may know of institutes, etc you could check.

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That's true! I didn't think of that before. And I mean, there was a couple of family cemeteries that both her parents and grandparents were buried at so I really should try there and see. That's very true. A lot of records have probably been damaged beyond recognition as well as a lot lost that way.

 

Oh really? Okay, thank you! I'll try to get with her on that and see if maybe she can help me find out. It's always possible I may stumble across the name that way.

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When I was trying to find some of my peeps - one generation up from slavery, I wrote to all the Baptist cemetery/ church graveyards in Yazoo Mississippi.  Enclosed  self addressed stamped envelopes for replies. I did get responses. Sometimes when the internet is lacking, you gotta go the dinosaur method. ;-}

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Haha very true! Maybe that's what I should resort to then - I may get more info that way anyway. Plus some things just aren't posted online so that can be trickier. Maybe the dinosaur method is the best way to go haha :)

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Hi, I don't know if you are still looking for your grandmother, but I believe she is buried in Ozment Valley Cemetery in Drew County, Arkansas.

Hope you see this.  We may be distant relatives!

Have you considered taking a DNA test in case Donna Lynn has also taken one?