Many came forward after their adoptive families said they were from the Hicks clinic. And the $1k sounds about like what my Dad was sold for. It may have started with good intentions, but these babies deserve the truth and they deserve it now. I am from Tennessee before Dr Hicks moved across the state line to McCaysville Ga. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. 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. Prior to that, he was practicing just across the state line in Copperhill, Tennessee, and could well have been selling babies then. Natalie. What he did to all of those families was very wrong. 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. Instead, he illegally sold the babies for approximately $800 to $1,000 each.1. Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972 at the age of 83. | Birch on Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Family Tree Building Basics for Beginners Book, Use DNA to Trace Your Mexican Family Tree Book, Example of Family Tree DNA Family Finder Results, were discovered more than two decades after Dr. Hicks death. He was married to a Baptist Sunday school teacher, according to PEOPLE. Not sure how you can justify robbing mothers of their babies (some were told the babies died) or destroying the records so those that wanted to find their biological parents had no way of doing so. The story is told on Taken at Birth. There were cases where Hicks talked women out of abortion. We will never know the hell they have suffered. She was 6 years old when her adoptive father sat her down about it. They can arrange a meeting if a match shows up and both sides want to meet. As a result, he could not provide information that would help the babies find their parents or the other way around. Dr. Hicks was married and had two children, a son and a daughter. That seems to be a repetitive theme amongst the living relatives. Several of the Hicks Babies found the mausoleum was vandalized when they paid a visit in 2018. The news captivated many outside McCaysville. You have several options when it comes to learning about your DNA, KnowYourDNA is the best source for finding all things related to DNA. Hicks may not have been in Georgia during that time, but if he was in TN that might be a lead. This man not only took away peoples family history, but ruined their future as well. Babies For Sale: The Secret Adoptions That Haunt One Georgia Town. I think he was a good man. Thank goodness your grandmother was there and knew what to do. Many of the Hicks babies were able to do DNA testing as part of the TV show. Eventually, in 1964, he was caught performing an abortion and was summarily stripped of his medical license. According to the neonatalogist interviewed in the show many other babies must have died. With the judges help, she learned that the clinic sold babies while they were still open. Below is the list of best dr thomas hicks family tree website where you can find anything related to dr thomas hicks family tree. Hicks faced legal trouble for illegal abortions, but not for the illegal adoptions. $1000 was not a tremendous amount of money when you think about the birth mothers room and board for one month (they had no money, they paid nothing) prior to the birth, plus 24 hr a day Nursing care. Still, she defends her late grandfathers actions. I am helping a relative looking for his birth parents or siblings. thank you so much for the information danny has 5 sisters and 1 brother looking for him, Should anyone believe or just want to be a part of the DNA registry for The Nicks Babies..please visit us on our webpage (Hicks Adoptees), Thank You His name would have been Von Gordon Prince. Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, the man behind the Hicks Babies, ran a small clinic in the tiny town of McCaysville, Georgia. My thoughts exactly. Can never know. Women came to have abortions and he told them it was a successful procedure, only to take that premature baby and sell it to someone. He was protecting himself & looking out for his own financial interest!!! WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. In these cases, Hicks would forge a birth certificate and give the baby to adoptive parents in secret from his Georgia clinic. 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. Blasio also created a confidential registry to help Hicks babies find their parents and siblings. 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. I kept yelling at the tv he saved your freaking life!!!! READ NEXT: Jane Blasio, The Hicks Baby Who Broke the Black Market Baby Adoption Case: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Dr. Thomas Hicks: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Bragg, Rick. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email. I cannot imagine being one of these babies. Once they have grouped their DNA matches in to several groups, they can study the descendants of the ancestors to find where they connect to each other. 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. 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. Expand. 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. Thank you! You saw it. Janice, I am from Polk County Tennessee as well and Dr Hicks delivered my oldest brother before they ran him out of Tennessee. Facebook We can tell ourselves stories, and they become our truths. 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. Cock being laughed at each time someone ask his name. Now fast forward 50 years, memories are skewed, you feel differently now, maybe you wish things were different. Have The Hicks Babies Been Reunited With Their Birth Parents Or Birth Families? Hicks initially lost his clinic for doing illicit abortions. If he does, youll want to be in whichever database he decides to use. The story has been featured in many TV specials, including on TLCs, Taken At Birth, which originally aired in 2019. Then you missed the entirety of the story. Dr. Thomas Hicks. Babies were handed out to them through the door or window. Starting in 1955 and running through the early 1960s, Hicks offered secretive abortions and adoptions here. Oh well for them, I was raised in those mountains and Im not afraid of them. Otherwise he wouldnt have needed to lie about them being stillborn. I have hicks show up in my DNA results. In 2020 a 4lb baby as a very good chance of not making it even with amazing NICUs in todays age. The Hicks Community Clinic has been closed for years, but the building still stands. I think that you did well with pointing out that this is not on and well done. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. #TakenAtBirth, a 3-night special event, begins TONIGHT at 9/8c. So no, I cant completely vilify as I just dont know. Who is Parent 1 or Parent 2 on Ancestry DNA? Does it say where he was born or the name of the doctor? Melinda, of the Hicks Babies, I have a missing, supposedly deceased infant sister, born in supposedly michigan in 1967, 1968 or 1969. What people dont realize is Doc Hicks started his practice in Tennessee. Theyre an invaluable resource for parentage searches. One of those babies he delivered in Tennessee was my oldest brother who was supposedly still born. You can see for yourself google him. I was waiting for one mother to come on and say that they were told that their baby had died, but nope. My parents were a young married couple and very much wanted their baby! TLC's Taken at Birth, which first aired in 2019, is a three-part . Think about it, some of these folks could fall in love with a relative and not even know it. The adopted child or biological mother can call and provide information about their gender and birthdate. If you fully watched the documentary you would know that almost all the babies were 4lbs at birth weight or even SMALLER and he was doing this to hurry along the money. During the years that he ran his clinic, the town was at its population peak of between 1,800-2,000 residents. Hicks was providing a service, Ken Rush, director of the Ducktown Basin Museum, told Narratively. On another point, Ive heard it said that Dr. Hicks disposed of aborted babies in the river. With that said, what we know, sounds evil, but that is based on times being much different. The series tells the story of a man that stole over 200 babies and sold them on the black market. It was discovered that Dr. Thomas J. Hicks had been selling newborns from the small-town facility's backdoor for $1000. These include the nurse, the secretary who signed the false documents, Hicks lawyer, and the sheriff who investigated Hicks illegal abortion clinic. One twin has not been found yet but the one that was found was adopted into a horrible family and had a really sad childhood. but i can't find me any where an i don't know if the people that raised. He was wrong and he did wrong so did the mayor and chief of police. She was 23. Thank you. Uncover your ancestry, paternity, and health risks for peace of mind, Get affordable medical tests that you can privately take at home, Test your gut bacteria and learn ways to restore its balance, Discover healthy diets and apps that can help you lose weight, Lose weight without sacrificing your nutrition and health, Straighten your teeth at home and see visible results in months. Aside from families that might eventually tell their adult children, the only hope Hicks babies have of finding their biological relatives is DNA tracking. She did tell me she heard her baby cry and Dr Hicks told her he was still born. It was a horrible thing he did to my parents and the rest of us when he stole my oldest brother! McCaysville, which is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains right on the Georgia border with Tennessee, was shocked to hear that their beloved town doctor, Dr. Hicks, was accused of arranging illegal adoptions, and even selling babies, for parents wanting to adopt. His wife and son both passed away, and his daughter lives in North Carolina, according to Appalachian History. There are stories that even suggest that some mothers were told that their babies did not survive at birth. Yes. now that im older and i actually understand what happened i think its horrible. He was born October 18, 1888. My heart aches for your mother and your whole family. Both of Dr. Hicks parents were born in Tennessee. 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 . What he provided were lies to young mothers and fathers who wanted their babies ! There were mothers who were told their babies died. And he gave the babies to equally desperate childless parents. 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. Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is the "bad guy" featured in a three-part docuseries titled Taken At Birth. she weighed a little over 4lbs I wonder if theres any connection between those doctors. i come from to sides of a family that are both messed up. Dr. Hicks had a granddaughter, Sally Sompayrac, who empathizes with the plight of the Hicks babies. How Did Hicks Black Market Babies Business Work? is anything else your are looking? Many of those from Hicks small town defended his actions. I can promise you this, if theres a hell, he is in the front row seat! Somehow I missed this Documentary the first time it aired. Our filters are much different than the ones from that period of time. My name is Judy Swafford Walker. Her decade-long search for her birth parents led to the exposure of Hicks' illegal babies. That is when my older brother was born and my mother was told he was still born even though she told me she heard her baby cry. My parents lived together for 62 years and went on to have seven more children but my Mama grieved the rest of her life for the son she lost! Clearly, you have never lost a child. He was married and had two children, a son and a daughter. You people have no idea how many states/commonwealths this Hicks was in., he was known in the mountains of Pa as Hickscock. Those who were adopted have few places to turn to track down their origins. Hicks' wife and son had already passed away. I will find out who my mother was and why my dad was killed. More than 200 babies, known as the Hicks Babies, were sold by Hicks through a back window of the Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia during the 1950s and 1960s. about dr thomas hicks family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. If hes alive, hopefully hell see the TV show and decide to test. He sold those babies for a profit. I was born in 1967. HE WAS A HORRIBLE MAN, JUST HORRIBLE!!! So telling a mother that her baby died at birth while he sold it out his back door was fine with you? I have had two of my children die. 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. He wasnt going around knocking girls up and holding them hostage in his apartment until they delivered their babies so he could sell them.. The illegal adoptions that were allegedly arranged by Dr. Hicks were not discovered until after his death. New York Times, accessed 17 September 2019. He induced birth prematurely to make money. That $1000. 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. The method of the illegal adoptions has left many questions for those who started their lives in Hicks clinic. Learn how three Hicks babies were able to find biological family using DNA. In 2014, around 30 suspected Hicks Babies traveled to Tennessee to undergo DNA testing. 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 have been advised by a man named Bill Miller from Cleveland Ohio that I was a Hicks baby but cannot find out if this is true. It is unknown whether Hicks paid the biological mothers for the babies. Test prices are here: https://thednageek.com/dna-tests/ Mama said they ran him out of Tennessee not long after that because he was killing so many babies. pic.twitter.com/aTH43ks3Co. Now, they are using the power of DNA to reunite with their biological families. Sompayrac believes her grandfathers actions helped the birth mothers in need and gave the babies life. 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. Dr Hicks induced some babies early, and they would have been put in incubators had then been born that early today. PS Ancestry DNA is a crook. There are always three sides to any story: One side, the other side, and the truth (which is usually somewhere in between). https://t.co/900llb4znH, Angel Patriot?? Dr. Hicks died a disgrace in 1972, one year before the Roe v. Wade decision. The extra mouths to feed were simply too expensive. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn more about yourself. That son adopted Sallie, who was featured in the show. Estimates show Hicks sold about 200 babies from the 1940s to the 1960s.3. Why dig up a grave when dna could have given these people the answer if they were siblings? The townspeople believed he encouraged pregnant women who came to him to carry their babies to term instead. In the mid-1940s, Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks opened the Hicks Community Clinic in the small town of McCaysville, Georgia, mere steps from the Tennessee state line. a fun fact is that me and my mom and my dead grandfather only have his blood. The birth certificates Ive seen were in the 6-7 lb range. I agree that in those cases he did the right thing, but everything else he did was just horrible! TLC's "Taken at Birth" will explore Thomas J. Hicks. Not a mother who wanted to give her baby up for adoption, but a mother who trusted her doctor? me are my real parents or not as i am finding out not every thing they told me about family is real. "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. Just recently I have been confirmed to be the last of the Hicks babies. Thankful for the granddaughter who went beyond what most would have to get answers. Some of those in his town defend his actions, according to Narratively, saying he was providing a service. Despite the illegality of the abortions, Hicks would advertise the service at phone booths, bus stations and bridges, according to Appalachian History. I am wondering if any possible hicks babies that have not found relatives has DNA done? Same ears, chin/jaw line, nose, and eyes. Furthermore, over 200 babies! These babies were born between 3.5 and 4.75 lbs.. very unfavorable!! THIS POOR WOMAN THOUGHT HER TWIN BOYS HAD DIED. I would love to be able to find him or maybe some of his family. What he was doing in a lot of cases is absolutely wrong because of stuff like this. 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. He told women their babies had died when they hadnt. Are you kidding me. Dr. Hicks was a town doctor who performed illegal abortions. AND IN ALL ACTUALITY HICKS LIED TO HER TO GET HER TWIN BOYS AND MADE OVER 2000 OFF OF HER PAIN. I realize Dr. Hicks is not here to defend himself or answer questions, but I cannot imagine how you can defend him after what you heard. Time is running out. Please! This is accomplished through the careful study of DNA matches. Before Doctor Hicks opened his practice in Georgia he was just across the state line in Polk County Tennessee in the 1930s. 2015. Some babies were that small but not all of them.
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