HICKS, J. He explained: Im very fortunate to have him, very fortunate. About 1920, he established a practice just across the state line in Copperhill, Tenn. The doctor, who also performed then-illegal abortions, persuaded young women who came for abortions -- many from out of state -- to carry their babies to full term, then sold the newborns to people who wanted a baby with no questions asked, the judge said. All of them paid up to $1,000 for a baby no one could trace back to its mother. Eager families from the Midwest came to this town on the Tennessee-Georgia border. The day the child was born, to a woman who might have briefly loved her, a small-town doctor in northern Georgia passed her through the back door of his office to a tire maker and his wife from Akron, Ohio, who wanted a baby badly enough to buy one. ''He gave the most terrific Halloween candy,'' said Tina Golden, the waitress and a former neighbor. Hicks, a family physician who performed illegal abortions in the 50s and 60s in McCaysville, Ga., also delivered. She disdains the notion that the doctor sold black market babies. Never has been black market babies, she said. 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. Itll be an on-going thing.. Dr. Hicks served as a town doctor in McCaysville, Ga., and was known for performing abortions, which were illegal at the time. 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. The townspeople agreed. J.S. Hicks died at age 83 in 1972. These lists include people who are genetically related to us. In a sense, Mrs. Blasio sees it that way, too. On June 21, the Cincinnati-based DNA Diagnostic Center will have a representative at the Ocoee River Inn in Ducktown, Tenn., to collect DNA samples from anyone living in that area who believes they may be related to one of the babies that Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks arranged to sell from his McCaysville clinic in the 1950s and '60s. Ric Flair, the famous wrestler, was one of these children. It is unclear whether or not Stephen ever had a twin brother. SOLD ON THE BLACK MARKET. Description. Hughes was born in MacCaysville, Georgia, and was immediately handed over to a couple who had apparently bought her for $1,000 from Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, an evil and corrupt physician who had done the same to several other babies. It was like being reborn again., YouTube Screenshot Are you daft? One woman, Pam Helton Stepp, a 49-year-old hairdresser from Ringgold, said she wanted to show her support because her sister had been given up as a Hicks baby. ''If I wasn't so personally involved, I'd think they were making it all up.''. Some traffickers also use drugs and alcohol to control them. June 12, 2021 News, TLC Shows Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is the "bad guy" featured in a three-part docuseries titled Taken At Birth. I just want medical history. A lot of local people see Dr. Hicks are providing an important service in an economical depressed area. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. LOS ANGELES, April 24 (AP)Babies are being sold in a fast growing black market that charges anywhere from $5,000 for an illegal adoption to $50,000 for a custommade child. Lesa Burgess, 51 of Epworth, said had fate not stepped in, she might have been a Hicks baby. "And this one kills me because I can't solve it right now," she said from her home in southern Ohio. He was never formally charged with arranging these illegal adoptions, and for this reason, he never went to jail or faced legal consequences for his actions. ''This is just too bizarre for real life,'' said Judge Linda Davis of Fannin County Probate Court, who has risked the ire of people in her county to help Mrs. Blasio in her quest through county birth records. I hope that you have found this article interesting, and that you understand more about the story of Dr. Hicks and how the individuals who were adopted through his clinic might be able to use DNA results to discover the identities of their biological parents. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a husband and father. $44,000. TLC recently aired a very long 3 part documentary series on the Hicks Babies who were adopted out. In the small town of McCaysville, Ga., Dr. What's in U.S. foods that Europe deems unfit for human consumption? Reply Quote Report. If she wants to come forward, there are no strings, no blame. For a similar, but more sinister example, there's the Tennessee Children's Home Society, which for 30 years was run by a woman named Georgia Tann, who, in cahoots with a local judge, stole babies from poor families and made millions on the black market with them. His death occurred in 1972, long before any of the children that had been adopted illegally through Dr. Hicks clinic had discovered the truth about their origins. And in 1972, Hicks died at age 83. It was Mother's Day of 1997 when Reymann saw a story in the Akron Beacon Journal featuring the story of Jane Blasio who had discovered she had been illegally sold as an infant for $1,000 from a clinic run by Dr. Thomas Hicks in McCaysville, Ga. some three decades earlier. Nearly ready to give birth, her mother was on her way to Hicks clinic when a sympathetic stranger took her instead to a nearby medical center where Burgess was adopted through legal channels. TLC recently aired a very long 3 part documentary series on the Hicks Babies who were adopted out. At least 49 of the babies were sold to parents in the Akron, Ohio area. Even though Dr. Hicks is not suspected to be biologically related to any of the Hicks Babies, some people might find his ancestry and family tree to be of interest. Word spread that his clinic would take care of desperate pregnant women. Feedback | Apparently, Dr. Hicks had prepared her falsified birth certificate. ''Over all, he done more good than otherwise.''. They named her Jane, wrapped her in a blanket and drove due north for eight hours, far away from the South, to a place where the winter winds pick up speed on Lake Erie and make people curse the cold. TLC is at it again, with a new sort of mystery docu-drama about a very real scandal in a small town more than 50 years ago. But there were a few stories of him declaring babies as stillborn.. then sold them off. I actually work with a hicks baby, he's pretty laid back, not too stressed out that he may never know who is parents were. Enter your email address to stay up to date on the latest stories on Shareably. But these abortions did not entirely mesh with his beliefs. Warner's mother voluntarily put her up for adoption. Seven mothers have come forward, quietly, and about 50 bought-and-sold ''Hicks babies.'' There have been no positive matches between parents and babies so far, but Judge Davis and Mrs. Blasio believe it is only a matter of time as more possibilities join the pool. And my mom, who sees all these matches and wants to know how the fuck she has so many relatives? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. We really needed to step up our efforts, she said. There is evidence Dr Hicks told birth parents that their baby had died and were instead selling them on to desperate couples. This is accomplished through the careful study of DNA matches. It is unclear how far along she was, but Hicks convinced her to carry the pregnancy until he induced her. 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. Before he died two years ago, Jane's father told her everything he could remember about Hicks Clinic. He died in 1972 at age 83, which was 25 years before the shocking story of his black market baby ring came to light. Like our Instagram page to get more stories. Dr. Hicks was viewed as a caring aristocrat, a member of the Adams Bible Class of the First Baptist Church and the Copperhill Kiwanis. Over three nights this October, TLC's 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. Dr. Jessica Clem . More than 200 newborns were sold by Dr. Thomas Hicks, a doctor in McCaysvilles, Georgia who was selling babies out of the back door of his clinic during the 1950s and 60s. This is unreal," she says. A father who murdered his baby just weeks after adopting her may have slipped under the radar as he . 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. The Hicks Clinic. But Hicks record-keeping left few clues. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Matthew Scully-Hicks made a 999 call two months before Elsie died claiming she fell down stairs. After learning about her past, Blasio became motivated to help fellow Hicks Babies discover the truth about their identities. Sally Sompayrac is Hicks granddaughter. She just wants to look in a stranger's face, and find herself. The birth mother in this case was 18 years old and married, but her husband had a history of disappearing for months at a time, so the marriage wasn't stable. Not only was she illegally adopted out of the Hicks Clinic, but her adoptive mother was murdered in 1998. Hicks surrendered his medical license in 1964 for performing an illegal abortion. He handed an infant through the door. Kathleen Shipman is a contributor at SBLY Media. Where they came from. Hicks illegally sold the babies through the back door of. In fact, Raymanns birth father didnt find out until more recently that his son was even alive. Dawson is one of hundreds who say they were victims of Dr. Thomas Hicks. The mother had also left home to work at a factory when she was 13 years old so it seems unlikely that she had family support. But not every woman who came to. She is close with the group, however, and is considered part of the family. (210) 2019 13+. At this point in her life, Dawson said the testing isnt so much about finding her birth parents as it is learning her medical history. The news captivated many outside McCaysville. But Dr. Hicks would see his practice come to an end in 1964, when charges were finally brought against him for performing illegal abortions. More to the point, he also facilitated over 200 illegal adoptions. His clinic, the Hicks Clinic, was in operation between about 1945-1965. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Hicks deceived many mothers into believing he wanted to find their babies good homes. Dr. Thomas Hicks ran a medical clinic in the hardscrabble north Georgia town of McCaysville from 1955 until 1964. All rights reserved. ''I thought my mother must have been like Katharine Hepburn. On the heels of a TLC series "Taken at Birth," that began airing in 2019, Blasio, 56, has . - 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 . There are many people who were adopted at birth who can use similar strategies to learn more about their recent and distant ancestry. DNA testing, impossible a decade ago, can now make the connection, and plug the holes in the past. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reunited+after+30+years%3b+The+babies+stolen+from+their+mothers.-a061605768. His parents were David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Holt. 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