Need help with a Baptism certificate question

Baptismal certificates are oddities for sure. Mine raised some questions for me and brought out some issues as far as dates were concerned which really perturbed my adopted mom as my adoption wasn't something on which we dwelled. At least that is the reason I was given whenever I'd push the point and ask about it. The Catholic church takes sacraments, especially adoption, very seriously. They wouldn't just allow some person off of the street to step in as a God parent. The role of a God parent used to mean a lot more than it does these days. The God parents were meant to provide spiritual guidance and in some part be responsible for the child in the event of the loss of the parents. In the case of an adoption I would think that the role would take on a more symbolic rather than the traditional role. I was baptized before my adoption but my certificate lists an aunt and uncle as my God parents. I may be back in the area of the church where I was baptized and may have to stop in to see their record. I assume that what I have is an amended baptism certificate. With any luck I can convince them to see the original entry from my baptism. The individual could be a friend or relative of your birth mother. Uncle, brother, etc... If it was the God father then you may have a last name of your biological family. At worst, it may have been a trustee of the church. In my parish back in Illinois we had a very active community in the men and women groups of good spiritual people. In the case of an adoption of this nature one of them may have been asked to be a sponsor. Have you contacted the church to see if they list the relationship or if the name rings a bell with them? Sorry that I can't be of much more help to you.

I found some info awhile back while researching Baptismal Certifs.. In my experience the records are guarded like Ft. Knox. Did have luck at a church in Balt. once, they let me see the book myself, got the info I needed. Certainly worth a try for you. When I had my birth son Baptized in 1975 in D.C. Arch. Dias. prior to relinquishment at the maternity home, my parents stood as his God Parents. When I found my son this past yr. he and his A parents had no knowlege of this, nor were they even told the name I gave him. "When you use the baptismal certifs.. this is what you do.... may work for pre-1975 only searches For adoptees and birth families...it works either way...it varies from state to state,or should I say diocese to diocese... If the relinquished child was baptized prior to the adoption, the child's birth name was used in the ceremony This birth name is on every single record that the church has on the child, although the adoptive family does not see it, that is only because it is in the church records, any certifs.. released by the Catholic church will hold the adoptive name on them but it will always hold the original Baptismal date,ALWAYS!!! This is canon law..... As with the birth indexes, there are Baptismal indexes, these indexes are held at the Arch diocese in every place,not all places allow the general public to view them. Never under any circumstances go in the diocese letting them know you are an adoption searcher,they wont let you in to view the records...you are a genealogist for that day,period!!! You will need the birth date of the child,and for good measure,it would be wise to look into the day before the birth date known and the day after,not many cases I have seen, needs more then that lee-way in dates to figure out which child is the correct one you need to see in the index... As far as I can figure out, the child relinquished will be listed twice,once with the birth name and a second with the adopted name....copy down everyone of those children that shares the birth date of the child your dealing with in the adoption,one of those names is the one you are looking for." So it seems to me..with the big time frame of your placement and it is catholic, it is HIGHLY likey the first will have your birth name on it, "canon law" and let us HOPE for bp's names too!!!. " Be sure to register on Metro for a MD adoption Metro Reunion Registry (started as Wash DC/Metro now National) [url]http://www.metroreunionregistry.org/:flower:[/url]

Some good points. I used to be very active in my parish back in Illinois. All of our church records were in a database as well as "the book". It seems to vary from parish to parish how the records are maintained as my adopted moms parish still had everything in a book. I only know that because I contacted them about doing genealogical research on my moms family.

Thanks guys for your help! So far I sorta put what both of you said together. I couldnt get so lucky to have two sponsors LOL, and to make it worst it was a Miss..... but knowing that it still could be a birthfamily member I came across a lady (who has the same first and last name and would be 88 and has died) but thought what if thats birthgranny...went to Ancestry and found her family... but cant find out her childrens name because I dont have a membership to be able to peek in a few public trees. But the heritage is the same as my non id... So I guess I will make another post on the board there too and check out the local church. Ive already made a partial payment to CC (LOL everyones favorite) for a search and reunion but just gotten use to the everyday tryin that I had to ask. I just would rather be in control of the reunion so I keep going.