But many aspects of his clinic remain a mystery to this day. At the helm is lead investigator Jane Blasio, the youngest of the known Hicks Babies, whose resolve helped break the story, and who has since dedicated her life to finding out the truth. This lucrative . The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Who is Parent 1 or Parent 2 on Ancestry DNA? For webmasters |. Taken At Birth will share the untold stories of the Hicks Babies, the name given to more than 200 newborn babies illegally sold or given away from the back steps of a small-town Georgia clinic run by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks during the 1950s and 1960s. Like many of those who gathered here Saturday, Dawson is one of about 200 co-called Hicks babies, infants given up by their birth mothers and sold in the 1950s and 1960s from Dr. Thomas Hicks . But that, of course, wasnt true. All of them paid up to $1,000 for a baby no one could trace back to its mother. Who was our dad? I mean, what was the alternative for those babies? Source. From the Inside Flap Jane Blasio is a Hicks Baby, sold at birth and passed through the back door of a clinic in North Georgia. It turns out that Bernie Drexler did. The woman has passed away, but her daughter found a death certificate signed by Hicks among her mother's possessions and an Aunt confirmed the twins were stillborn. DNA testing, impossible a decade ago, can now make the connection, and plug the holes in the past. He is the man behind the babies who are now called the Hicks Babies. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. Hicks surrendered his medical license in 1964 for performing an illegal abortion. Anyone can read what you share. As it turns out, Raymanns adoptive parents had actually purchased him illegally from Dr. Thomas J. Hicks, the creator of a black-market baby ring. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Dr. But not every woman who came to. When Mrs. Blasio's adoptive parents, James and Joan Walters, went to McCaysville to buy their first baby in 1961, Dr. Hicks told Mrs. Walters to put on a hospital gown and lie down in a bed in his clinic. sammy Joined: Sep 2010 . Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972, when he was 83. ''Over all, he done more good than otherwise.''. Jane Blasio's search for her birth mother in McCaysville, Ga, brings to light the black-market sale of as many as 200 babies delivered there by the late Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks between 1951 and . I dont want to drop into anybodys life, destroy anybodys relationships, Conrad said. He told women their babies were stillborn and then sold the babies. But there were a few stories of him declaring babies as stillborn.. then sold them off. He was born October 18, 1888. DNA is a help, but is limited by the fact that because word of Hicks' services had spread widely at the time, pregnant women and especially adoptive parents often came from considerable distances. And in 1972, Hicks died at age 83. All of Dr. Hicks grandparents were born in Tennessee, as were many of his great-grandparents. The man whom Jane Blasio came to know as her father told her all of this, after she had grown up and married, after the death of the woman she called her mother. The documentary originally aired in 2019 on TLC, but has since migrated to Hulu. "I don't see how you could find it anymore peaceful. In the 1940s, Hicks served time in prison. Following DCYF intervention, Mother and Father obtained custody of J.S. Most people whose recent ancestors were born in the United States will find that their DNA match lists include people who are related to them at a distance of 2nd-3rd cousins. More to the point, he also facilitated over 200 illegal adoptions. ''Now I just wanted somebody with a good heart, who would like to know a little something about me, about what happened to me.''. Dawson has known since age 7 her parents got her from the McCaysville clinic run by Hicks, who died in 1972. Are you daft? When Mrs. Walters got home, she knitted a pillow for her baby Jane with her birth date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Children%27s_Home_Society. What Does It Mean If You Have 1% Native American DNA? Despite the fact that Hicks, his wife, and his son have all passed away, his daughter is still living. In fact, Raymanns birth father didnt find out until more recently that his son was even alive. SOLD ON THE BLACK MARKET. ''As a child, I pictured her being a doctor, a writer, an intellectual, a gorgeous woman, of course,'' she said, smiling. In addition, he did serve time in jail in Tennessee for illegally dispensing narcotics in the 1940s. What's in U.S. foods that Europe deems unfit for human consumption? ''He gave the most terrific Halloween candy,'' said Tina Golden, the waitress and a former neighbor. Copyright 2023 Who are You Made Of? These lists include people who are genetically related to us. No one knows if he paid them, but at least once, he asked the buyers to give the mother a new suit of clothes. The doctor kept no known records of the birth mothers, who discreetly vanished. When the news first broke, Paul Payne, 61, of Hixon, Tennessee, said his former babysitter contacted him. Her son refused to test her DNA. Where they came from. Thomas, or Dr. Hicks, was one of six children. She often receives calls from people anxious to become parents, asking whether they should buy a baby from traffickers. Sometimes, with poor girls from the Tennessee mountains and with big-city girls from Atlanta, he persuaded them to carry the child to term, to give it up for what he called adoption. I agree. The way some townspeople see it, Dr. Hicks was saving the life of an innocent with each infant he sold on the black market. Instead, he illegally sold the babies for approximately $800 to $1,000 each. They would give birth at the clinic, and circumventing all legal formalities Hicks would hand over the babies to adoptive parents along with forged birth certificates which listed the adoptive parents as the biological parents. After learning about her past, Blasio became motivated to help fellow Hicks Babies discover the truth about their identities. ''All my life, I've felt like I didn't belong, like I didn't fit in. "That's hard---I feel cheated that I don't know.". They're hoping for one last clue, through modern science and DNA, for one last answer. Occupation: Dentist Spouse: Sallie Cobb Johnson Adopted children: Thomas J. III and Sallie Cobb Hicks Son of Chassie Copeland and Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Sr. who performed illegal late term abortions, sold infants on the black market and is the subject of the TLC documentary Taken At Birth.. So, in some 200 or so cases, Hicks convinced young women to carry their babies full-term, and allow him to handle their adoptions. Now, shes on another mission, struggling to find her birth parents. Thanks to the shows Hulu debut, the series is generating buzz, so a second season isnt out of the question. He also told the mothers that their babies died, gave them death certificates but then sold the baby out the back door for $1000. Blasio blew the whistle back in the 1990s. Stephen Dilbeck, 64, from Blue Ridge. SNATCH TOT JOY; Mum's new hope over 3-week-old. There is evidence Dr Hicks told birth parents that their baby had died and were instead selling them on to desperate couples. Autosomal DNA tests, such as Ancestry DNA, 23andMe, My Heritage, and Family Tree DNA, offer extensive DNA match lists. To this day, a cloud of secrecy remains around Dr. Hicks himself and the notorious adoption ring that changed the course of hundreds of lives. Hicks and his nurse told lots of stories, so who knows if thats true, Dawson said, as if still half-believing all these years later. One reason that our program is so strong is that our . Until Mother's Day 1997, when his adoptions were exposed. There are stories that even suggest that some mothers were told that their babies did not survive at birth. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Over the next six years, they remained in frequent contact, but when her sister divorced, that was the end of it. STOLEN BABIES For over thirty years Dr. Hicks, a beloved small-town doctor in McCaysville, Georgia, built his wealth by performing abortions and selling babies out of his clinic. Dr. Hicks, who passed away at the age of 83, was born in 1888 in Picket County, Tennessee. "They were instructed to come downcome through the front door, pick the baby up and leave through the back door and, and go home immediately," Dawson explained. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. I just want to know. Born in 1963, inside a non-descript cinder block building in McCaysville, Georgia, she was delivered by the town's only doctor, Thomas Hicks. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. ''All those years of looking in the mirror and wondering where I came from, where I got the hair and the eyes, not one moment did I ever have any anger toward her,'' Mrs. Blasio said. Dawson is one of hundreds who say they were victims of Dr. Thomas Hicks. Hicks baby-selling ring centered in Akron, OH 1950s-60s. She just wants to look in a stranger's face, and find herself. But Dr. Hicks would see his practice come to an end in 1964, when charges were finally brought against him for performing illegal abortions. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Since these adoptions were discovered more than two decades after Dr. Hicks death, there are many details of the story that may never be uncovered. But in Georgia, there are still hundreds of people looking for answers. - one of the Hicks babies was found to have been born in another place by another doctor so now they are on the search for another illegal baby . i was told i was born in raymond wa. Diane Warner smiles as she meets many of her family members for the first time Saturday in Tunnel Hill. ''I don't want anything from her. I've never seen anything ugly here, said Doris Abernathy, 92. Which led Judy and Melinda to Maury in April 1998. Scan this QR code to download the app now, TLC recently aired a very long 3 part documentary series on the Hicks Babies who were adopted out, As part of the 2014 DNA tests, Kriste Hughes was reconnected with her birth mother Thelma Tipton. Word spread. A son and a daughter were born to the couple. Heres why, Study shows colorectal cancer showing up more in younger people, Atlanta neighbors want to reclaim and revitalize the Joyland neighborhood, Kemp administration deals blow to Buckhead cityhood push, Georgia Power proposes steep rate increase for customers - How it affects what you pay. There was no paperwork, no lawyer, no child welfare agency to peek over their shoulders. Thats my priority.. But the sinister doctor always lied to make a profit. "I think he was a good man. By learning about the family trees of their 2nd-3rd cousins, they can identify groups of DNA matches who are related to each other through the same common ancestor. Seven mothers have come forward, quietly, and about 50 bought-and-sold ''Hicks babies.'' One thousand dollars in 1955 would be nearly $10,000 today. However, only four of his siblings survived to adulthood. I kind of agree. Dr. Jessica Clem . Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site! The doctor kept no known records of the birth mothers, who discreetly vanished. An expert in illegal adoption, she helped unravel the mystery of the Hicks Clinic, breaking the story in 1997. Joan Crawford adopted several children from there I believe. Hicks made sure the birth certificates listed the people adopting as birth parents. The date was the 15th. Diane Conrad, 56, drove in from Akron, Ohio. Pimps and traffickers manipulate children by using physical, emotional, and psychological abuse to keep them trapped in a life of prostitution. Hed do anything for anybody---sometimes hed pay a price for it, she said. Life with mother who couldn't or didn't want to care for a child? . Her birth parents were never named on the one-page document, only the names of her adoptive parents. So he did not leave records, but I imagine even the mothers didn't want there to be records since they chose the illegal route. I hung up, he said. A lot of the babies that were sold were under 5lbs which could indicate that he induced labor which would make the childs death more believable since the baby came early. Stevens Obituary Steven Wayne Dilbeck, age 71, of Blue Ridge, GA passed away on December 14, 2021 in the Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper, GA. What Is taken At Birth? She has served for more than nineteen years in federal law enforcement. Its something we all deserve.. It was known as far away as Atlanta and Chattanooga that if a boy got his girlfriend pregnant, Dr. Hicks could fix it quietly, Judge Davis said. One week later, he sold the newborn for $1000. ''I would be able to stop wondering,'' Mrs. Blasio said. And my mom, who sees all these matches and wants to know how the fuck she has so many relatives? 1 He told some of the biological mothers that they had undergone an abortion. It can sometimes be more difficult to pinpoint the exact identify of someones biological parents without closer cousins, such as first cousins. "My father burst . What he did to all of those families was very wrong. If I discover where I come from and who I look like, that would be the topping on the cake, Dawson said. Never has been black market babies, she said. He had a large house in town and a nice farm, and he gave medicine away sometimes, from a black leather bag. He sold at least one more child. It does not store any personal data. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. According to Blasio, only about 50 of the 200-plus children, referred to as Hicks Babies, have been identified and located so far. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972, Hicks died of leukemia in 1972, his... Birth parents that their babies did not survive at birth son was even alive physical emotional. Performing an illegal abortion leukemia in 1972 just wants to know how fuck. Clinic remain a mystery to this day with her birth parents on another mission, to! Traffickers manipulate children by using physical, emotional, and plug the holes in the category `` Necessary.... Are now called the Hicks babies discover the truth about their identities smiles as she meets many his. 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