Homestead Hospital & Child Placing Agency,
The Homestead Child Placement Agency,
Homestead Maternity Home and Hospital,
The Homestead Maternity Home
In Operation from 1957-1972 (Addresses that were used during oper)
1250 West Rosedale Avenue, Ft. Worth, TX
1028 5th Avenue, Ft. Worth, TX
3600 Crescent, Ft. Worth, TX
3600 Camp Bowie, Ft. Worth, TX
714 Dan Waggoner Building, Ft. Worth, TX
Homestead was a maternity home and adoption agency located in Ft. Worth, Texas. The exact dates of operation are unknown. It appears they opened in late 1954 to early 1955, but were NOT licensed until October 1958. Not all birth mothers stayed at the home. It was a three (3) story building with the kitchen area in the basement.
The adoption agency offices were connected to the maternity home. When children were born, some were sent to foster parents until they were picked up for adoption and others went straight home from the hospital. All children were born in Harris Methodist Hospital or All Saint’s Episcopal (now Baylor Medical Center) in Fort Worth.
Through the years; the Board of Directors for Homestead changed hands often. Mrs. W.W. Slaughter was acting as Executive Director until Dr. (Rev) T.E. Durham, took over these duties. Dr. Durham started as Treasurer. Dr. Durham was a retired Baptist Pastor of 31 ½ years with the Arlington Heights Baptist Church, before taking over duties as Executive Director for Homestead. Was involved with Homestead from day of opening until facility closed.
All adoptions, unless adoptive parents used their own lawyer, were handled by Attorney Mike Eugene Powell (1957-1964) and Harold Louis Valderas (1964-1972), who was appointed Judge in December 1965, but continued to handle adoptions for Homestead. The doctors were Harry H. Womack, Jack L. Turner, Frank Cohen, Hugh Parchmann, and others.
We have set up a site strictly for people who were touched by The Homestead Maternity Home and Child Placement Agency that operated in Ft. Worth, Texas from 1957-1972. All records were destroyed. The only information that still exists is an Original Birth Certificate that is housed in the Vital Statistics Department of Texas. A birth mothers name is needed to get this information released.
Please join our group for support and help with your Homestead Searches. All adoptees, birth parents, and adopted parents are welcome. Polly Speed is the Moderator/Owner of the Yahoo Group for The Homestead Maternity Home. Quite a few of our finds are coming from people remembering each other, so please come check out our group….AFTER you REGISTER with G’s Search Angels. Click on the link and join our group, as well.
At the time of the adoption adoptive parents should have received some non-identifying information. Example, birth parents ages, race, occupation, level of education, religion, physical description, hobbies, talents, or circumstances surrounding the adoption.
The adoptive parents also filed a petition to adopt. They received a final adoption decree, an adoption certificate, and issued a new birth certificate. The amended birth certificate is a legal and binding document that reflects the adoptive parents names including any name changes assigned to the adoptee.
To help in your search, some places to call or write for information is listed below.
Hospitals Used & Where to Write for Medical Records:
Harris Methodist Hospital, Health Information Services, 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Ft. Worth, TX 76104, (817) 882-3580 (phone), (817) 882-3526 (fax)
All Saints Episcopal Hospital NOW Baylor Medical Center, Medical Records, 1400 8th Avenue, Ft. Worth, TX 76104, (817-927-6125 (phone), (817) 922-1552 (fax)
*You MUST call or write to receive an Authorization For Release of Patient Information form, so that your records may possibly be retrieved. Some records are still available.*
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