Shameful + Sinful + Criminal + Evil!! If they were going to have an abortion like some people are saying then there would be absolutely no need to tell the moms that. She grieved her the rest of her life for her first born son. I agree that in those cases he did the right thing, but everything else he did was just horrible! New TLC Special Taken At Birth Dives into Shocking Hicks Babies Black Market Adoption Scandal. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In this post, learn who the Hicks Babies are, how they got their name, and how some of them are using DNA to discover their biological origins. I hope you guys can find what your looking for. Just horrible! Theres nothing there, Linda, one of the Hicks Babies, told Narratively. If shes still alive and knows shes adopted, she may be looking for you using DNA. Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972 at the age of 83. While its true that some of the adults who were adopted as babies are using DNA to discover their biological origins, it is not because they suspect a biological connection to the Hicks family. His wife and son both passed away, and his daughter lives in North Carolina, according to Appalachian History. Ive heard that many times in my life by a lot of people. Were it not for him encouraging these women to have their babies, these children would have never been given a chance at life. News, TLC Shows. 'Hicks Baby' Adoptee Sold by Georgia Doctor 50 Years Ago Reunites With Birth Mother, Brother, Who are the Hicks babies? Have you taken a DNA test? THIS POOR WOMAN THOUGHT HER TWIN BOYS HAD DIED. Maybe hes out there and will search for you. She said the whole time she was having the babies that there was a very nice dressed lady sitting in the room across the hall from her. we do not know where these births occured most of our family is deceased. Husband of Chass Chassie Hicks Taken at Birth: The Hicks Clinic Stolen Babies, Best Food Sensitivity Test To Take At Home (2023), The Best DNA Tests (for Health, Ancestry, and Ethnicity), Best At-Home Allergy & Intolerance Tests (2023), We Took The Viome Gut Test Heres Our Verdict. What if, you are a scared young woman, 16 or 17 or even 19, pregnant in rural GA or TN, shame ridden as some would have felt, just wanting this to be taken care of. I am from Tennessee before Dr Hicks moved across the state line to McCaysville Ga. He buried them for her (such a nice guy) and gave her a birth certificate stating they were stillborn. And youve had children with them??? about dr thomas hicks family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. Dr Hicks quickly hushed the nurse and gave my grandma something to make her sleep. Dr. Hicks did lose his medical license in 1964 due to an infraction unrelated to the illegal adoptions. My heart breaks for your mama and for your whole family. That seems to be a repetitive theme amongst the living relatives. Same ears, chin/jaw line, nose, and eyes. Just one grandparent can lead you to many Her name is Alana honey boo boo if you dont know who she is you can google her. Dr Hicks induced some babies early, and they would have been put in incubators had then been born that early today. Some of those in his town defend his actions, according to Narratively, saying he was providing a service. There are many people who were adopted at birth who can use similar strategies to learn more about their recent and distant ancestry. There is absolutely NO defense for that.He treated these babies like they were nothing more than a puppy mill money making machine. What he did was awful feel so bad for those mothers and children. This man not only took away peoples family history, but ruined their future as well. And in 1972, Hicks died at age 83. He was inducing them around 30 weeks handing out 4lb babies to people. This man was worse than the plague! The truth about the adoptions came to light in 1997, more than two decades after his death, as some of the Hicks Babies began seeking out their biological parents. As far as they know the first baby that was adopted out was a twin. Besides his charitable practices, he performed unauthorized abortions. He ran the Hicks Community Clinic and offered his services to poor copper mining families. I think that you did well with pointing out that this is not on and well done. No matter where they grew upmost often in the industrial cities of Ohiotheir birth certificates said they were born in the Hicks Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia. now that im older and i actually understand what happened i think its horrible. I came from a messed up family, too. My decision is there was something very wrong going on. about dr thomas hicks family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. Now, my family has to wonder, is he out there? Many came forward after their adoptive families said they were from the Hicks clinic. But not all of the babies have been reunited. Blasio and 200 others were taken from their mothers at birth in the 1950s and '60s and sold illegally on the black market out the back door of a clinic run by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks. He was born October 18, 1888. He was a monster, a murderer, and a kidnapper, but he wasnt a good man doing a good thing for helpless women. So no, I cant completely vilify as I just dont know. Curiously, Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is not buried in a mausoleum that bears his name, but beside it. Then you missed the entirety of the story. One of those babies he delivered in Tennessee was my oldest brother who was supposedly still born. Unless you were one of the babies there is no way you could know what its like to have this to happen to you. Dr. Thomas Hicks. At-home DNA testing wasnt available until recently. My YDNA indicates I am not Hicks. What is the Egypt DNA Region on Ancestry? (@Angel5Christine) October 8, 2019. The adoptive parents paid $1,000 for the baby, and Hicks would provide housing for the mothers for several months at his farm, a hotel, his apartments or a telephone company building, according to Appalachian History. This is the process by which it was alleged to have worked: The doctor would advertise adoption services and prenatal care, in addition to care related to the termination of pregnancies, in the local community and surrounding areas. Furthermore, over 200 babies! Remember that these women had no where else to go, no one to turn to. I am by no means defending Dr Hicks black-market adoption practices, but its important to remember that, even today, people die from asthma attacks. In the small town, the. His Georgia clinic was located only a short distance away from his previous practice in Tennessee right across the border. What we have now is the mothers side of the story. In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, a doctor was selling babies from his small town abortion clinic in the heart of McCaysville, Georgia. If he does, youll want to be in whichever database he decides to use. He then relocated just across the line in McCaysville Georgia. During the documentary they interviewed a dr that runs a NICU and he said absolutely many of these babies died from there extremely low birth weight and the adoptive parents would have had no choice but to just discard them. Yes, thats a horrible thought. Thats a totally twisted way of thinking!!! Many of those from Hicks small town defended his actions. To give Sallie an answer. In addition, he did serve time in jail in Tennessee for illegally dispensing narcotics in the 1940s. The poverty here in the Copper Basin of southeast Tennessee and far north Georgia, which includes the town of McCaysville, often meant that pregnant women couldnt ask a relative or friend to help raise their children. She never got over it. Labor was induced at 31-34 weeks (based on the birth weight of the survivors). I have my ancestory DNA done and would love to try to match some names with my DNA relatives. If it wasnt Hicks, there was someone doing the same thing during the war years adopting babies out to Akron. This man told women that their babies had died or were stillborn. However, many people are able to discover closer relatives, like aunts and uncles or even half-siblings, through DNA testing. Please! Nor did he put women in touch with legal adoption providers. If so, login to add it. His wife was a Baptist Sunday school teacher, according to PEOPLE. 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. When families came to his clinic to adopt babies, Hicks made the women pretend they had just given birth. Love and hugs to them all! Women came to give birth, and were told their babies were stillborn! Dr. Hicks died a disgrace in 1972, one year before the Roe v. Wade decision. He was married to a Baptist Sunday school teacher, according to PEOPLE. Busted not for selling babies, but for the abortion clinic. Many are still trying to find their biological relatives. my sister some how never got the gene or blood of him. 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. I am currently fixing to do my own dna test. But those he left behind have differing opinions on his actions. She is a member of a Facebook groups which joins the Hicks babies. At the other end of the transaction, adoptive parents drove to a window in the alley behind the clinic, shelled out $1,000 or morebig money for the timeand were handed a newborn. The judge discovered records showing an unusual number of women visiting Hicks clinic. survivors include his mother, diann loftice barker of mckinney; stepfather, don barker of mckinney; three brothers: billy loftice of princeton, ron and jasen loftice both of mckinney; two sisters: lisa murphy of culleoka, artie stone of princeton . Shameful + Sinful + Criminal + Evil!! The story is told on Taken at Birth. I think he was a good man. What Happened to Dr. Thomas Hicks? 1997. I will find out who my mother was and why my dad was killed. The charges didnt mention that he sold babies or had them illegally adopted. I believe that he provided a valuable service, giving women an alternative, giving a baby a chance at life, giving a couple a chance to be parents. We dont know anything about the adults he has seen. Until Mother's Day 1997, when his adoptions were exposed. Apparently these women were seeking abortions, not babies. Many had no idea they were adopted until well into adulthood. Well he and Alannas birth father very similar. The pain these mothers felt I could never imagine and not to mention how many of these babies died from being delivered wayyyy too prematurely. As a matter of fact she grieved the rest of her life for her first born she thought had died! She had particular qualms with the notion of black market babies.. Many people who fell victim to the Hicks baby market hope these DNA tests will help them find closure. He sold at least one more baby after he was shut down. Could you imagine carrying your baby a whole pregnancy having a nursery all set up and you go to the hospital deliver your baby and be lied to that your baby died smh Im speechless. You can follow their life-changing stories in a three-night series, Taken at Birth, airing October 9th-11th, 2019, on TLC and some streaming platforms. My mom had two stillborn they told her. It can be a serious disease. me are my real parents or not as i am finding out not every thing they told me about family is real. Hicks was forced to give up his medical license in 1964 after being charged with performing illegal abortions, and he died in 1972 at the age of 83. 23andMe is on sale right now, so its a good time to buy. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. To date, seven of the biological mothers have come forward. According to the New York Post, Jane is just one of more than 200 newborns sold by Dr. Hicks, during the 1950s and '60s.. As part of his practice, Hicks performed abortions, which were illegal at the time. "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNX9-1PS: 4 December 2014), Thos J Hicks and Chassie Copeland, 07 Jun 1917; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 2008); citing p. 222, Polk, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. My Grandma has been gone several years now, but she told us numerous times that in 1952 when she gave birth to my aunt that she remembers having two babies and the nurse telling her she had a boy. The motives of Hicks actions are unclear. How HEARTLESS can someone be then to tell a parent their childTHEIR CHILD died just so he could profit? Hicks died at age 83 in 1972. He took HUGE risks for essentially very little in return, in fact he did lose his medical license in 1964 for performing an abortion. My husband and I said the same thing while watching this show! Before Doctor Hicks opened his practice in Georgia he was just across the state line in Polk County Tennessee in the 1930s. All in all, I cannot condemn him. About 15 of the 200+ babies have been reunited with their biological parents. TLC's "Taken at Birth" will explore Thomas J. Hicks. So many of the women were told their babies had died. Those who are among the babies that were adopted through the Hicks Clinic can take DNA tests to help discover who their biological parents might have been. I kept yelling at the tv he saved your freaking life!!!! He surrendered his Georgia medical license to halt his prosecution.2. After watching this documentary I can see how he got away with it for so long. They adored Dr Hicks and were fiercely protective of his reputation and legacy. Dr. Dhingra has of over a decade in diagnostic, clinical, research and teaching work, including managing all sections of Pathology laboratory including histopathology, cytology, hematology and clinical Pathology. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3186644/Adopted-woman-51-SO Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Sr worked as Physician. It is possible that deaths like these convinced Dr. Hicks that something needed to be done..