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! My YDNA indicates I am not Hicks. To push the boundaries of DNA science. Not a mother who wanted to give her baby up for adoption, but a mother who trusted her doctor? Its time the truth came to light. 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. Wow! You can see for yourself google him. Tune in to #TakenAtBirth, a 3-night special event, starting TONIGHT at 9/8c. Adopting families from out of town often drove up to the door. Geni requires JavaScript! They should at least be thankful that they werent aborted. Enter a grandparent's name. Clearly, you have never lost a child. That seems to be a repetitive theme amongst the living relatives. discoveries. pic.twitter.com/3dg3CRes3u. As far as they know the first baby that was adopted out was a twin. Moves to NE Ohio and then to Michigan from 1868 to this day. His clinic, the Hicks Clinic, was in operation between about 1945-1965. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JRRC-NPT: 9 January 2021), Thomas Hicks, Mar 1972; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). I am honored to be part of the behind-the-scenes team of passionate and compassionate people who helped some of them in their journeys. They may not even know theyre adopted. 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 adopted child or biological mother can call and provide information about their gender and birthdate. At least one Hicks baby submitted his DNA to Ancestry.com and found a half-sister. 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. Are you in all of the DNA databases? IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. There is absolutely NO defense for that.He treated these babies like they were nothing more than a puppy mill money making machine. He did not have any choice but to lie on the birth certificates. One of those babies he delivered in Tennessee was my oldest brother who was supposedly still born. Hicks Baby Adoptee Sold by Georgia Doctor 50 Years Ago Reunites With Birth Mother, Brother. 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. He was protecting himself & looking out for his own financial interest!!! 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. So, what you are saying is, when my mom went to deliver my BROTHER and was told he was born dead, yet she has nightmares TO THIS DAY that she heard her baby cry for her. Hicks faced legal trouble for illegal abortions, but not for the illegal adoptions. I can empathize because of some similarities, but I cannot fully understand. 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. The man that is Dr.Hicks first stolen, one of the twins. What is the Egypt DNA Region on Ancestry? You really have no idea what you are talking about! ALL OF THOSE CHILDREN WERE MESSED UP FROM THIS. Mama said they ran him out of Tennessee not long after that because he was killing so many babies. Brother of Infant Daughter Hicks, U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)Listed as Thomas HicksBirth: Oct 18 1888Death: Mar 1972Last residence: Copperhill, Tennessee 37317, USA, News report: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3186644/Adopted-woman-51-SO]. She is a member of a Facebook groups which joins the Hicks babies. 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. A New York Times profile of Blasio appeared in 1997, which was around the. Hicks lied, blatantly, to some of these women, hell probably 90% of them. i hope everything gets better for those kids and those parents. He lied to many and told them their babies died! Many people who fell victim to the Hicks baby market hope these DNA tests will help them find closure. Ray, you bring up an excellent reason why everyone has the right to know who their biological family is. Otherwise he wouldnt have needed to lie about them being stillborn. Would love to have help, Im mr.hicks grate grate grand daughter sadly, hes from my moms side of the family. 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. How can you condone that? This lecture will be retired after this offering, so dont miss out! 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. My Mama and Dad were married and biological parents to my brother. The motives of Hicks actions are unclear. He would then sell those babies, for prices as high as $1000, to couples who wanted to adopt. So yes he should be vilified! These closer relatives can provide important clues that can help determine exactly which child descended from the grandparents (identified through the 2nd-3rd cousins) was likely the biological mother or father. Prior to that, he was practicing just across the state line in Copperhill, Tennessee, and could well have been selling babies then. It includes a handout, plenty of time for questions and discussion, and access to the recording for 2 weeks. Can never know. Selling 200 babies in illegal adoptions at $1000 each could have made a person very wealthy in 1950, though his exact motivations may never be known. My thoughts exactly. He is monster!! in todays market he did make money, he also induced those women into early labor to push those babies out putting the babies and mothers in jeopardy(I wonder how many died). This was rural Appalachia in the 50s and 60s, a lot of poor families. Eventually, in 1964, he was caught performing an abortion and was summarily stripped of his medical license. We only know about the ones who survived. 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 . There is living proof, with dna, of one man, who along with his twin brother, was reported dead and buried by Dr. Hicks. Facebook WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. He is buried in Crest Lawn Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. Blasio knew she was adopted at a young age. I will find out who my mother was and why my dad was killed. However, many people are able to discover closer relatives, like aunts and uncles or even half-siblings, through DNA testing. There are about 200 people, now adults, who are among those who are sometimes referred to as Hicks Babies. My Mama and Daddy were very young yet very poor when this evil man told my Mama her first born son, my oldest brother was dead. Aside from families that might eventually tell their adult children, the only hope Hicks babies have of finding their biological relatives is DNA tracking. Ignorance is a terrible thing smh!!!! Looking for a DNA test that's accurate and can tell you about your health and heritage? I am currently fixing to do my own dna test. These babies were born between weighing only 3.5 and 4.75 lbs.. ALL very unfavorable conditions!!!! Buying or selling A CHILDTHERE IS EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THAT! To date, no one knows the exact number of babies he stole and sold on . What we have now is the mothers side of the story. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. What he did was completely illegal, but was it less moral than aborting these babies? The charges didnt mention that he sold babies or had them illegally adopted. Login to find your connection. New TLC Special Taken At Birth Dives into Shocking Hicks Babies Black Market Adoption Scandal. He told women their babies had died when they hadnt. Have The Hicks Babies Been Reunited With Their Birth Parents Or Birth Families? Have you taken a DNA test? 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. She was 6 years old when her adoptive father sat her down about it. These werent all women seeking abortions, a number of these women were seeking medical care for themselves and their unborn babies only to be robbed of that precious life. Love and hugs to them all! Bruen, Matthew Steven. Im so sorry for your familys loss. Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn more about yourself. What he did has no merit. "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN5X-3HV: 3 February 2021), Thomas J Hicks, 1920. In next week's column, this family's lineage will be continued with the family and history of Samuel Hicks (2). Who was Thomas J. Hicks? My mother grieved for her baby the rest if her life! That evil man lied to my mother and stole my oldest brother and by the way, $1000 was alot of money in the 1930s, 40s and 50$ in the Appalachian Mountains. This man not only took away peoples family history, but ruined their future as well. If he does, youll want to be in whichever database he decides to use. i am from polk county tenn we are trying to find if our brother danny is still alive we have learned 3 dead babies in my family it is interesting. So telling the one mother her twin boys were stillborn is acceptable to you. When mothers came in to the clinic and expressed hesitancy about carrying their pregnancies to term, the doctor would persuade them to have their babies. 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. This is how those who were adopted can identify the parents or grandparents of their biological parents. Melinda, of the Hicks Babies, I have a missing, supposedly deceased infant sister, born in supposedly michigan in 1967, 1968 or 1969. Many of the Hicks babies also began searching for their biological families. Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Sr Born 18 Oct 1888 in Bloomington, Pickett, Tennessee, United States Ancestors Son of David Fleming Hicks and [mother unknown] [sibling (s) unknown] Husband of Chass (Copeland) Hicks married 7 Jun 1917 in Polk, Tennessee, USA Father of Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Jr Died 5 Mar 1972 at age 83 in Tennessee, United States Oh my gosh Barbara, he also delivered the babies early, like induced at between 31 & 34 wks causing them to have low birthweight, failure to thrive and other health issues. What he provided were lies to young mothers and fathers who wanted their babies ! Such an evil man to cause such heart ache! Categories Searching for Biological Family. can you imagine waking up one day to find out accidently that you were adopted and come to find out through this show or other means that your wife is your sister or first cousin? Thank you for visiting dr thomas hicks family tree page. Sompayrac believes her grandfathers actions helped the birth mothers in need and gave the babies life. But what does anyone think was normally done with illegally aborted babies during that time I can tell you, they were likely disposed of in with the garbage. Despite the obstacles, the investigative team - with the blessing and cooperation of the Hicks Babies community - works tirelessly to try and bring answers to the families impacted by Dr. Hicks' actions, from conventional DNA searches and door-to-door interrogations, to a mausoleum search. Babies came to the mountains with him and babies left the mountains with him. My husband and I said the same thing while watching this show! 23andMe is on sale right now. I know this first hand because of how it deeply hurt my mother for many, many years! Barbara, I shuttered when I read your comment! Thomas is 21 degrees from Jennifer Aniston, 20 degrees from Drew Barrymore, 22 degrees from Candice Bergen, 26 degrees from Alexandre Dumas, 17 degrees from Carrie Fisher, 32 degrees from Whitney Houston, 20 degrees from Hayley Mills, 20 degrees from Liza Minnelli, 20 degrees from Lisa Presley, 21 degrees from Kiefer Sutherland, 17 degrees from Bill Veeck and 22 degrees from Brian Nash on our single family tree. I mean no disrespect towards anyone. These babies were later sold to adoptive families. Aug 05, 2015 at 7:11 pm. During the years that he ran his clinic, the town was at its population peak of between 1,800-2,000 residents. . Some of the ads and links on this website are affiliate links which pay me a commission if you purchase through them. I have a great sample of relatives going back many generations. Shameful + Sinful + Criminal + Evil!! What he was doing in a lot of cases is absolutely wrong because of stuff like this. So that he could make money. Geni requires JavaScript! Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks I personally think he is a sociopath and I wonder if he could have been a Serial Killer as well. in Psychology and enjoys writing about health and wellness. His daughter is living in North Carolina, according to Appalachian History. I wondering how far the rabbit hole goes with him. 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. If it was a black-market clinic, there probably arent any records of the transaction. One thousand dollars in 1955 would be nearly $10,000 today. 2017. However, only four of his siblings survived to adulthood. The judge discovered records showing an unusual number of women visiting Hicks clinic. 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. So far, there are no positive DNA matches between babies and parents from the database. Babies For Sale: The Secret Adoptions That Haunt One Georgia Town. And he gave the babies to equally desperate childless parents. Why dig up a grave when dna could have given these people the answer if they were siblings? https://t.co/900llb4znH, Angel Patriot?? a fun fact is that me and my mom and my dead grandfather only have his blood. 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. The Hicks Community Clinic has been closed for years, but the building still stands. In these cases, Hicks would forge a birth certificate and give the baby to adoptive parents in secret from his Georgia clinic. I grew up with this story from my grandfather when i was little. 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. Besides his charitable practices, he performed unauthorized abortions. Dr. Hicks, who passed away at the age of 83, was born in 1888 in Picket County, Tennessee. Learn how three Hicks babies were able to find biological family using DNA. Yes. 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. I know your heart aches. she weighed a little over 4lbs I wonder if theres any connection between those doctors. There were mothers who were told their babies died. 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. Dr. Hicks was married and had two kids a son and a daughter. Now fast forward 50 years, memories are skewed, you feel differently now, maybe you wish things were different. Youre as crazy as he was if you think he should even get a pat on the back for his time and services. HE WAS A HORRIBLE MAN, JUST HORRIBLE!!! When families came to his clinic to adopt babies, Hicks made the women pretend they had just given birth. What Happened To Dr. Hicks And His Associates? About 15 of the 200+ babies have been reunited with their biological parents. She grieved her the rest of her life for her first born son. Theyre an invaluable resource for parentage searches. There are many people who were adopted at birth who can use similar strategies to learn more about their recent and distant ancestry. Bragg, Rick. | 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. me are my real parents or not as i am finding out not every thing they told me about family is real. She grieved for him her entire life! She was present when authorities opened the mausoleum. His forged birth certificates did not list biological parents. 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. Theres probably a lot of dead babies because of his practices. Estimated reading time: 5 minutes From 1951 to 1965 Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks began to quietly offer babies for adoption from his Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, GA. Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks Before Doctor Hicks opened his practice in Georgia he was just across the state line in Polk County Tennessee in the 1930s. This is a story of a doctor who saved lives?? Thank you! Some of those in his town defend his actions, according to Narratively, saying he was providing a service. What's additionally staggering is it's believed that more than 200 infants, known as the "Hicks Babies," were victims of the doctor's scheme during the '50s and '60s.