Herbert Lehman, all adopted Tann babies. They just know it is confirmed to be over 200. "We just want to know things like medical history, you know, where did we come from? Please help assist me. Bye.. said Payne. Taken At Birth follows Jane Blasio, the youngest of the known Hicks Babies, who helped break the story and has since dedicated her life to finding out the truth. Quietly, because the clinic he'd been running since the mid-1940s was not a licensed adoption agency. All rights reserved. All times AEDT (GMT +11). In February 1963, Judy got that call. The catalyst came when Melinda visited Clarence in prison one day. They werent having anything to do with me. Dr. Hicks' granddaughter also strongly implied that, in some cases, Dr. Hicks himself was the father of the "Hicks babies" in question. John Stapleton and his biological half sister Atress Davis. Dr. Hicks was a town doctor who performed illegal abortions. Posted on . Parents reveal he was giving babies that weighed between three and five pounds out the backdoor of his clinic. I said, Im going to get a Coke. PEOPLE can exclusively announce that the three-night special Taken At Birth will air Oct. 9 through Oct. 11. We watched her favourite show and then we went to bed.. 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Hicks Babies. With the advent of commercially available DNA testing, about 30 Hicks babies descended on the town in 2014 hoping to find their birth families. Judy, along with her daughter Melinda, were appearing on the infamous American talk show regarding their involvement in the Hicks Baby saga where couples in the 1960s unknowingly adopted children from the black market. }); Source: YouTube Screenshot element: "#evvnt-calendar-widget", How many Hicks babies have found their biological family? And in most cases,it seems, it made little difference as to happiness or quality of life for the child. I would be afraid to change anything.. We are your neighbors. Dawson says in 1962,. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Dr. Hicks' karma ventually caught . Eric is related to Michael Jay Hicks and Rhonda Susan Hicks as well as 3 additional people. The number of those who have reunited with a biological parent is even smaller - approximately 15. DUCKTOWN, Tenn. They hoped she would read about it in the newspaper, and that wherever she was tucked away in a quiet suburb with family or spending her final days in a nursing home she would come to them. The parents of a five-week-old baby mauled by two rottweilers have spoken for the first time since their little girls life was taken. About a year later, the couple bought a baby girl from Hicks. The six-hour special 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 door of a small-town Georgia clinic run by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks during the 1950s and 1960s. I visited Clarence and told him, this is the guy, Im telling you. Clarence said there was always something about Earl that bothered him. According to Blasio, only about 50 of the 200-plus children, referred to as Hicks Babies, have been identified and located so far. "Were looking to see, by giving my DNA, if we have a sibling out there, said Truelove. The day after Clarence got the sample, Earl Mann attacked another inmate with a lock inside of a sock. I am only human.. Dr. Hicks was doing a service to himself, which is apparent by the lack of a safety net for the babies and the money he was charging. The late Dr. Thomas Hicks was wrapped up in the Black Market for Babies during the 50s and 60s. The series does end without them ever successfully finding his twin. He gave up his medical license in Georgia in order to stop the criminal proceedings, but he didnt stop illegal adoptions. Lying for him. It turned into a business. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. If you think you might be a Hicks baby or a relative of a Hicks baby, please contact adoptee Paul Payne in Hixson at 423-637-2617 or adoptee Melinda Elkins Dawson in Ohio at 937-248-4712. I dont think I processed it for a long time, I went into survival mode.. Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is the bad guy featured in a three-part docuseries titledTaken At Birth. But in Georgia, there are still hundreds of people looking for answers. He wont be eligible for parole until hes 92. The black market adoptions were discovered in 1997 and a community of Hicks babies has been in contact since that time. Earl Mann had gone missing from the halfway house where he was staying on June 3, 1998. Who was our mom?" Jane Blasio is the youngest of the known Hicks Babies. Your email address will not be published. Like other adoptees, all he's uncovered is a birth certificate he believes Dr. Hicks falsified. Investigator Jane Blasio works alongside Lisa Joyner and Chris Jacobs to uncover the truth about these black market adoption rings. When you see news happening, share it! Country Living editors select each product featured. In his writing, Alexander covers a wide range of topics, from cutting-edge medical research and technology to environmental science and space exploration. She is close with the group, however, and is considered part of the family. The statistics surrounding the Tennessee Childrens Home Society (TCHS) are staggering: it operated in Memphis for more than 25 years, from 1924 to 1950; about 5,000 children passed through its doors; an estimated 500 children died while in its care. "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 said. Hicks was the beloved town doctor in the tiny mountain town of McCaysville, but women came from miles around to seek his services. ", First published on October 12, 2014 / 8:16 PM. We celebrate community and we tell your stories. TLC presents Taken At Birth, a three-night television event coming October 9th at 9/8c. It was then she began to think hard, but it wasnt in obvious detail that she gave information; she skirted questions by referring to the clinic as, I know what my father did. Her face showed the pain and generational regret, and then tears. You need to ask yourself questions and then do problems to answer those questions. number: 3, I knew early on that to find my information, I would have to find out who Hicks was. "He put the adoptive parents down on the birth certificate as the natural parents and that pretty much sealed our fate as far as trying to find the roots," said Payne. JUDY Johnson never got to see her appearance on the Maury Povich show she was brutally murdered before the episode went to air. As DNA technology and the ease of testing grew, the numbers grewin the hundreds. Required fields are marked *, function evvntDiscoveryInit() { She contacted private investigator, Martin Yant, who convinced Melinda to reconnect with her sister. At least 49 of the babies were sold to parents in the Akron, Ohio area. That it had something to do with the Hicks babies. log in. virtual: false, In the early 1950s, Hicks reportedly began advertising illegal abortion services to unwed pregnant women in phone booths, bus stations and bridges. It was known that he would perform them anyway. orientation: "portrait", We live, work and play right here in the Tennessee Valley. Did Stephen Dilbeck ever find his twin brother? But falsifying the birth certificates was, and still is the big stumbling block for the Hicks babies. What have you been able to learn about your ancestry through DNA testing? Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. In the early 1950s, Hicks reportedly began advertising illegal abortion and adoption services on phone booths, bus stations, and bridges. That he was stillborn. SOLD ON THE BLACK MARKET. After the states investigation, Judge Kelly was permitted to resign; she died in 1954. At that point they took him, and he never came back home.. A graduate of Columbia University School of Journalism, she enjoys writing about the people, places and events that define metro Atlanta. In the small town, the. By this time, Clarences lawyers were out of ideas. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. But many aspects of his clinic remain a mystery to this day. One reason that our program is so strong is that our . They werent officially married so I didnt know about him. (Self, the oldest of nine children from a poor Georgia family, was barely 15 in the winter of 1965 when she birthed a girl and gave her to the town doctor who delivered the infant to eager adoptive parents. When Blasios adoptive mother died in 1988, her father shared all he knew of the family secret and Blasio embarked on a journey to learn as much as she could about Doc Hicks. Who was our dad? element: "#evvnt-calendar-widget", But this strange coincidence turned out to be a life-changing opportunity for Clarence. When she answered the door, her sister turned away. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Life After Lockup Did Sara End Up With Her Ex? And she has never given up.. At the same time things are being uncovered that people thought were buried. She said, I dont think that his eyes [the killer] were blue, Melinda recalled. The documentary originally aired in 2019 on TLC, but has since migrated to Hulu. The Hicks babies were babies sold by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks to different families. Email youngma@news.com.au, To join the conversation, please The doctor persuaded some of the women who came to him for abortions to carry their pregnancies to term, and then sold the infants to couples for $800 to $1,000. The series tells the story of a man that stole over 200 babies and sold them on the black market. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. The hardest thing is, emotionally, I dont show a lot. Dr. Hicks died a disgrace. A&E True Crime spoke with Blasio about her new memoir, Taken at Birth: Stolen Babies, Hidden Lies, and My Journey to Finding Home in which she details how she uncovered her birth story. Brooke, who was sleeping in the bedroom, had heard the attack taking place and cowered underneath the bed covers. DNA was done at a later date [in 2015] through Ancestry.com, and the results were more than enlightening. In January of 1965, Jane Blasio became one of those babies, but it wasnt until age 6 that she learned she was adopted, and age 14 when she first saw her own forged birth certificate bearing the Hicks Clinic name. Wed love to hear from you. Melinda began to track Earl Mann and discovered the terrifying realisation that he was incarcerated at Mansfield Correctional Institution, a mixed-security state prison for men in Ohio. He asked what I had done with my search and after we discussed it, he told me I was on the right path and to start honing my investigation skills by working for a licensed PI [private investigator]. Download the News 12 News and Weather Apps on your smart phone or tablet device to receive breaking news and weather push notifications the minute it happens. Her husband in jail for her mothers murder. More patients turning to text message diagnosis for everyd Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Patrick Mahomes' brother accused of assault, forcibly kissing owner at bar, Allison Holker pens touching note to kids after Stephen tWitch Boss death, Heather Dubrows youngest child, 12, comes out as transgender, Tom Sandoval drops out of interview amid backlash from Raquel Leviss scandal, March 4, 1984: Martina Navratilova defeats Chris Evert at MSG, Tom Sandoval breaks silence on Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims. Are there any unresolved feelings or unanswered questions youre still working to unravel? Blasio was one of about 200 infants placed in an illegal black-market baby ring run out of a small Georgia clinic by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks during the 1950s and 1960s. This lucrative . "I want to know who I look like, I want to know how my sons got so tall, I want to know if my sons look like their grandfather or their father.". Id even send him envelopes so he would send me a letter back, the envelope type that you had to lick it on the back and seal it, just to get his saliva. As part of his practice, Hicks performed abortions, which were illegal at the time. Somebody killed my grandma. He, however, always offered the parents a replacement baby if the baby didnt survive. Some wanted to search but didnt know where to start, and others had made initial phone calls but stopped there. It was like I could breathe again, Melinda said. ET on TLC. But it wasnt till the late 90s that a darker truth was revealed to him in a newspaper article. The "Hicks Babies" explore their past in TLC's "Taken at Birth.". Is Sally biologically related to Dr Hicks? For nearly three decades, Hicks sold as many as 200 babies to local and out-of-state couples who didnt have the time or money for legal adoptions, for prices ranging from $100 to thousands of dollars. Hicks surrendered his medical license in 1964 for performing an illegal abortion. Brooke later told police the attacker looked and sounded like her Uncle Clarence. They add it how people in this region had to do things. One corrupt doctor saw the perfect commercial opportunity - to deliver babies and sell them illegally for large sums of money. MITs Alan , In 2020, as a response to the disruption caused by COVID-19, the College Board modified the AP exams so they were shorter, administered online, covered less material, and had a different format than previous tests. There was an older gentleman that he robbed and beat with a pole stick, which Im pretty sure thats what was used against my mum.. Melinda and her whole family, including her sister and niece, picked Clarence up that day. Dr. Hicks had a few different approaches for obtaining babies that he could turn around and sell on the black market. No legal department is willing to help assist me in my county. They remain friends, but Melinda said its a lot to come back from. A DNA test led Raymann to his biological father, Paul Jack. Hicks, a family physician who performed illegal abortions in the 50s and 60s in McCaysville, Ga., also delivered babies and sold them to couples in off-the-books adoptions. "They were dirt poor everyone was. 7 Little Johnstons Season 13 Renewed: Premiere Date Revealed, Netflix Announces Pokemon Original Series. She became Falcone's sister, was diagnosed with mental developmental delays and has the cognition of a 5-year-old at 56, Falcone said. He doesnt talk to any of them but just to have a name made a big difference in our life. By the end of the docuseries, unfortunately, it did not seem that she had gotten any closer to tracking down her own biological parents. According to ABC News, he also reportedly lied to some of his patients, telling them their baby had died and then selling the newborn from the back steps of his clinic. Select this result to view Eric Ray Hicks's phone number, address, and more. It was this very thing that eventually shed a startling light on just what Dr Hicks was doing at his little Georgia clinic. Oftentimes, he encouraged mothers to have the babies and let him help adopt them out. The question is: did he take the black market baby-selling business with him? Dawson is one of hundreds who say they were victims of Dr. Thomas Hicks. She joined the group a few years ago after searching for siblings on-line. My Ancestry tree had several first cousin matches that pointed me in the right direction, but Tommy was the firstborn on my fathers side and our DNA matched.]. Until Mother's Day 1997, when his adoptions were exposed. He was born October 18, 1888. I was so afraid that they were coming to get me and my sons, they have my husband in jail and Im left like a sitting duck. The judge said the case never hinged on DNA but eyewitness testimony. Using DNA, door-to-door interrogations, and a mausoleum search, Taken at Birth continues the quest to reunite the Hicks Babies with their biological families. Sadly, Melinda and Clarence divorced after his 2005 exoneration. In her spare time, she enjoys raising awareness about autism and spending time with her two children. She has already found her biological first cousin. Hicks gave up his medical license in 1964 after he was indicted on charges of .css-k807px{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:brandColorSenary;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#006603;-webkit-transition:background .4s ease-in-out,color .4s ease-in-out;transition:background .4s ease-in-out,color .4s ease-in-out;background:linear-gradient(to bottom,#e6f4e1 0,#e6f4e1 100%);-webkit-background-position:0 100%;background-position:0 100%;background-repeat:repeat-x;-webkit-background-size:0 0;background-size:0 0;}.css-k807px:hover{color:#29511A;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-size:0.625rem 3.125rem;background-size:0.625rem 3.125rem;}performing an illegal abortion. He had founded so much secrecy and damage. widget: true, Georgia Tann died of cancer in 1950, three days before the state investigators delivered their damning report. Wittenberg is a nationally ranked liberal arts institution with a particular strength in the sciences. We are your neighbors. He would sell the babies to parents who wanted to adopt but couldn't afford to do so legally. But he has found solace in the large network of Hicks babies who share resources, dejection and hope. There is evidence Dr Hicks told birth parents that their baby had died and were instead selling them on to desperate couples. In 1964, Hicks was arrested for performing an abortion after one patient, described as a brunette in her 20s from Cobb County, reported him to authorities. However, it was eventually revealed that the health professional would sell the babies for $800 to $1,000 and provide the "parents" with a forged birth certificate. About this show Dr. Thomas Hicks illegally sold more than 200 babies from the back door of his Georgia clinic in the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Hicks was a town doctor who performed illegal abortions. But decades later, many of the Hicks Babies are still looking for their birth parents. Just hateful. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. [Jane] has been fighting for me and for all of us for years, says Stapleton, who retired from the Army a few years ago. Updated: November 4, 2011. Is Daisy Jones & The Six Based on a True Story? Dr. Thomas J. Hicks performed abortions in the 1950s, long before abortions were legalized in Roe v. Wade. discovery: { She has served for more than nineteen years in federal law enforcement. I totally understand what it means not to know who you are. He was born October 18, 1888. From 1951 to 1965 Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks began to quietly offer babies for adoption from his Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, GA. Were there more doctors involved? After watching Taken at Birth it sounded just like my mom. Paul Payne, who is a Hicks Baby, said this story is not new, and it digs up a lot of questions. Melinda joined forces with the Ohio Innocence Project and after a public campaign, on December 15, 2005, armed with new evidence and DNA testing, the Summit County Prosecutors Office announced they were dropping the charges against Clarence and calling for his immediate release from prison. She says he was just trying to find families for unwanted babies. It wouldnt be until 30 years later that Melinda and Judy would realise they were part of a devastating black market plot by Dr Hicks to illegally sell newborn babies to couples in six states in America from 1951 to 1964. There is evidence Dr Hicks told birth parents that their baby had died and were instead selling them on to desperate couples. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Sister Wives Fans Arent Feeling Christine Browns Outfit. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". He took a plea deal, and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. She ultimately became an expert in illegal adoptions and went public with the story in 1997. He was married and had three children. 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. Through town records, he and Atress, who is not a Hicks baby and was raised by her maternal family, found their father, who is now 83. That began my work in investigations. After she was killed, "I called them and they did a little tribute to her at the end," Melinda told news.com.au. June 23, 2014 CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF-TV) About 30 people showed up this weekend to give cheek-swab DNA samples. AMCs Sentai Filmworks Snags A Major Anime Deal, Pokmon Detective Pikachu Sequel Finally Gets Its Director. September 8, 1994. Children disappeared from yards, porches, little shack homes. After she was killed, I called them and they did a little tribute to her at the end, Melinda told news.com.au. We were completely estranged for three years after my mums murder, Melinda said. His wife and son both passed away, and his daughter lives in North Carolina,. Hicks, who owns a dog and a cat, set up a nice space for the rescue pet in her garage, complete with a litter box, cat food, water and a "cozy" box that included a soft sweater. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". On the heels of a TLC series Taken at Birth, that began airing in 2019, Blasio, 56, has released a memoir of the same name that shares the story of her journey to uncover her past and the questionable practices of a small town doctor in North Georgia. When I was 18, I contacted a private investigator in New York City involved in adoption searches. But, he does learn who is biological mother is. Did Dr Hicks father any of the Hicks babies? Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Taken at Birth airs Oct. 9 through Oct. 11 from 9-11 p.m. Melinda would later find out that in January 1999, Earl Mann was arrested on a traffic violation in Barbeton, the same town Judy was murdered. detail_page_enabled: true, The states key witness recanted her story, citing the prosecution for saying what everybody was telling her to say. They told her the baby was already black and blue.. TLCs Taken at Birth Is Based on the Devastating True Story of the Hicks Babies Adoption Scandal. She [Brooke] said it was dark and shed just seen the back of his head along with one time when he [the killer] went to punch her. Nedra Rhone is a lifestyle columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where she has been a reporter since 2006. We were a family again. They believed I was sticking up for Clarence. Dawson says in 1962, her adoptive parents paid $1,000 for her. We are the most trusted source for local news. virtual: false, Others may have been from mothers who . Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Together we were trying to figure this out.. Now, whenever any Hicks Babies come seeking information, the judge tells them to speak to Jane, who is trying to collect all the pieces to the puzzle. Being a private investigator, she admits that shes spent decades trying to uncover the truth. All three parts of theTaken At Birthdocuseries air next week on TLC. Jane was sold for $1,000 as a newborn in January of 1965 by Dr. Hicks. The Tennessee Childrens Home has no legacy connection with Georgia Tann nor the Society she operated. He arranged for them to stay at a hotel down the street until their due dates and told them he would find adoptive parents for their unborn babies without their having to go through complicated legal channels. publisher_id: "7057", This story has been shared 169,608 times. Sister Wives: Evil Roots Of Kody Browns Rage Exposed? I was so happy for Clarence, and my sons. But in untangling the complicated web surrounding Hicks, the show opens a small towns vault of secrets, leading to bittersweet reunions and DNA bombshells. They are among the Hicks Babies. Join the conversation, you are commenting as. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. However Mom never got to see the baby. Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site! Police descended upon Melindas home where she would learn her mother had just been brutally murdered and her husband was the prime suspect. 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 that's where the beloved town doctor sold over 200 black-market babies for $1,000 each between 1950 and somewhere in the mid-60s. They were. Im all alone. The shocking truth broke in 1997 after several Hicks Babies began to uncover the dark secret of their backstories. We had a little reunion, my niece was now 10 years old. The townspeople believed he encouraged pregnant women who came to him to carry their babies to term instead. It turns out, Diane was a Hicks Babyone of many who were adopted by parents in Ohio,Illinois and other northern states. How many babies were fathered by Dr Hicks? Abortions were illegal at the time. More to the point, he also facilitated over 200 illegal adoptions. For Blasio, that moment came in 2017 when she got a hit through ancestry.com and found her father who had died in 2010. When he walked away, Clarence got his sample. Kamiyah Mobley and Other Kids Who Grew Up Not Knowing Theyd Been Abducted. Earl Mann had tried to buddy up to Clarence in jail. After you went public with your story in 1997, you were contacted by a woman who thought you might be the daughter of her good friend, Kitty Self, because of your striking resemblance to both Self and her son. Heres everything you should know about Thomas J. Hicks and his black market business before tuning in to the three-night, six-hour event debuting Oct. 9.
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