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. After years of wondering about her birth family, will Diane finally have closure? Nor did he put women in touch with legal adoption providers. Personally I hope that Dr Hicks is burning in hell! He ran the Hicks Community Clinic and offered his services to poor copper mining families. We can tell ourselves stories, and they become our truths. Ive heard the same story over and over, that the mother heard her baby cry but was told it was stillborn. People, accessed 17 September 2019. When she ask Dr Hicks about it he told her it was the medication making her think that. Babies born that early would need to remain in the hospital. Tune in to #TakenAtBirth, a 3-night special event, starting TONIGHT at 9/8c. Hicks performed illegal abortions in the 1950s and 1960s, along with the illegal adoptions, until he faced legal troubles in 1964 for the abortions. 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. She named him Von Gordon. Blasio confirmed with the county birth records that she was likely one of the hundreds of babies sold between 1950 and 1965.2. She was present when authorities opened the mausoleum. He was wrong and he did wrong so did the mayor and chief of police. The series tells the story of a man that stole over 200 babies and sold them on the black market. Some of the ads and links on this website are affiliate links which pay me a commission if you purchase through them. my sister some how never got the gene or blood of him. 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.. The illegal adoptions stopped in 1964 when Hicks . I have a great sample of relatives going back many generations. Hicks died at age 83 in 1972. 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. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. My parents were young and married and wanted their first son! Instead of killing the children he delivered live infants, told the mothers their babies were dead, and gave the babies away to parents who wanted them. Furthermore, over 200 babies! Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972 at the age of 83. It is in Gods hands. Doctor Hicks was NO saint and we recognize his dysfunction, the pain he caused many, and have learned to bear it, she wrote. This is a story of a doctor who saved lives?? Both of Dr. Hicks' parents were born in Tennessee. Youre as crazy as he was if you think he should even get a pat on the back for his time and services. His parents were David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Holt. Many had no idea they were adopted until well into adulthood. My dad moved us to New Mexico when I was in my early teens but I have a brother who stayed in Michigan. After watching this documentary I can see how he got away with it for so long. You people have no idea how many states/commonwealths this Hicks was in., he was known in the mountains of Pa as Hickscock. I hope you guys can find what your looking for. Hopefully he got his comeuppance. Hicks' wife and son had already passed away. As far as they know the first baby that was adopted out was a twin. I am helping a relative looking for his birth parents or siblings. Babies For Sale: The Secret Adoptions That Haunt One Georgia Town. My mother remarried in 1969 in GA, I cannot locate any information about her daughter except a clipping cutout from the obituaries in michigan, NO GRAVE, BIRTH OR DEATH RECORDS can be found, can you help, The connections of Georgia and Michigan and Ohio seemed odd, we desperately desire to locate her, Do you know where she was born (which clinic or hospital)? So yes he should be vilified! And he was stealing babies telling mothers that they delivered a still born. There are stories that even suggest that some mothers were told that their babies did not survive at birth. She is a brave woman who helped a lot of people find answers. A legacy linked to illegal adoptions in rural North Georgia, Woman illegally sold to couple by doctor as newborn speaks out with new book: 'story isn't just about me'. The cost is the same for you. Somehow I missed this Documentary the first time it aired. He gave them good care. We just were not there and will never know his thoughts. If he was truly compassionate and a good man he would not have lied to the mothers and told them they delivered a stillborn baby or that the baby died. Some were children of women Hicks convinced not to have abortions. is anything else your are looking? Never has been black market babies, she told WKYC. He also has a living granddaughter named Sally Sompayrac. Husband of Chassie Hicks 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. I know abortion was illegal at the time, and then I think he was running into people who couldnt afford adoptions, he told the New York Post. Hicks beliefs did not fully mesh with abortions, and he would sometimes convince women that he would handle adoptions if they carried the babies to term, according to WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio. If it was a black-market clinic, there probably arent any records of the transaction. He was born October 18, 1888. It sits in a plaza in McCaysville, Georgia with a pizza shop on one end and a barbecue restaurant on the other, according to Narratively. Barbara, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Blasio first traveled to McCaysville in 1988 to search for her birth mother. To date, seven of the biological mothers have come forward. Within a decade, he was not only performing illegal abortions but selling newborns on the black market. Thankful for the granddaughter who went beyond what most would have to get answers. He induced births, told mothers their babies died and sold them! At-home DNA testing wasnt available until recently. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Are you in all of the DNA databases? All of the babies were children of mothers who were persuaded to give up their children for adoption, and were not biological children of Dr. Hicks. This man not only took away peoples family history, but ruined their future as well. When Dr. Hicks began his illicit practice, abortions were illegal in the United States, Phil Trexler wrote in the article. Time is running out. His wife and son have both passed away. Expand. 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. Dr. Hicks served as a town doctor in McCaysville, Ga., and was known for performing abortions, which were illegal at the time. And the $1k sounds about like what my Dad was sold for. Women came to give birth, and were told their babies were stillborn! Hed do anything for anybody sometimes hed pay a price for it, she said. "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPQ5-SW1: accessed 10 April 2021), A G Hicks, Copperhill, Polk, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 10, sheet 1B, line 89, family 17, "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4ZJ-HRF: 11 January 2021), Thomas J Hicks, Civil District 3, Polk, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 70-8, sheet 11B, line 42, family 207, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Think about it, some of these folks could fall in love with a relative and not even know it. Dr. Thomas J. Hicks performed abortions in the 1950s, long before abortions were legalized in Roe v. Wade. That seems to be a repetitive theme amongst the living relatives. If so, login to add it. It can sometimes be more difficult to pinpoint the exact identify of someones biological parents without closer cousins, such as first cousins. 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. The illegal adoptions that were allegedly arranged by Dr. Hicks were not discovered until after his death. Unfortunately, Hicks kept no records of the birth mothers. These women often came away from faraway places. https://t.co/900llb4znH, Angel Patriot?? I know this first hand because of how it deeply hurt my mother for many, many years! Originally from Tennessee, Thomas Hicks was educated at Tusculum College (now Tusculum University) and Carson-Newman College, both in Tennessee, and Emory University Medical School near Atlanta, Georgia. Narratively, accessed 17 September 2019. What he did to all of those families was very wrong. However, only four of his siblings survived to adulthood. THIS POOR WOMAN THOUGHT HER TWIN BOYS HAD DIED. There were mothers who were told their babies died. Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGFJ-W52: accessed 10 April 2021), Thomas J Hicks in household of D Fleming Hicks, Civil District 10, Sullivan, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 162, sheet 7B, family 136, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9119259/thomas-jugarthy-hicks, See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:McCaysville%2C_Georgia Facebook If they went there to have abortions and he told them what they wanted to hear, saved the lives of their babies and put them into the arms of loving parents, that makes him a hero in my eyes. She grieved for him her entire life! Hicks was performing abortions long before Roe. The biological mother was not mentioned, and there was no court record or other official document connecting the babies to their biological parents. Some of those in his town defend his actions, according to Narratively, saying he was providing a service. But many aspects of his clinic remain a mystery to this day. Aside from giving the adopted daughter her answer. 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. He states that he chased the car down the road from where hicks office was to try and get me before they took off in 1954. , city debt clock,