He was arrested for performing illegal abortions in 1964. His forged birth certificates did not list biological parents. Thank you for visiting dr thomas hicks family tree page. He is buried in Crest Lawn Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. 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. On the documentary the officer in the second episode claimed he gave a relative of his a shot and she died 30min later. Besides his charitable practices, he performed unauthorized abortions. The so-called Hicks Babies had falsified birth certificates, and Dr Hicks kept no records tying them to their biological families. Many of the Hicks babies were able to do DNA testing as part of the TV show. 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. His wife and son have both passed away. With that said, what we know, sounds evil, but that is based on times being much different. Theyre an invaluable resource for parentage searches. I agree totally with you.This all sounds awful. Some of those in his town defend his actions, according to Narratively, saying he was providing a service. Dr Thomas Jugarthy "Tommy" Hicks Jr. - Find a Grave Do you have your fathers original birth certificate? I Just dont understand how anyone could possibly think what he did was right or just or in any way good at all!! Remember that these women had no where else to go, no one to turn to. So that he could make money. You really have no idea what you are talking about! His wife was a Baptist Sunday school teacher, according to PEOPLE. The illegal adoptions came to an end in 1964, when Hicks was caught performing illegal abortions. He delivered my oldest brother. Appalachian History, accessed 17 September 2019. i am interested in the hicks babies i supposely had a brother who died in the early 1950s i would like to know if he is still alive, DNA geek, Have you checked the adoption registries to see if hes looking for his biological family? Busted not for selling babies, but for the abortion clinic She is a brave woman who helped a lot of people find answers. She never got over it. It would give me great peace to know I found him or his family for my sweet Mama. What is the Levant DNA Region on Ancestry. Dr thomas hicks family tree 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. The method of the illegal adoptions has left many questions for those who started their lives in Hicks clinic. Maybe hes out there and will search for you. I know this first hand because of how it deeply hurt my mother for many, many years! Stories of young girls dying from botched abortions in the early 50s still exist in the living memories of those from the region. Blasio has dedicated her life to helping reunite Hicks Babies with their biological families. i never thought it was real when i was little either. As a matter of fact she grieved the rest of her life for her first born she thought had died! His clinic, the Hicks Clinic, was in operation between about 1945-1965. Some residents seemed to know the double life he was leading. [But] I dont think it initially started that way., SAD STORYwith a happy ending for a brother & sister, John & Cindy were just 2 of more than 200 newborns sold by Dr. Thomas Hicks, a doctor in Georgia who was selling babies out of the back door of his clinic in the 50s & 60s. 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. Interesting. Women came to give birth, and were told their babies were stillborn! I owe my life to him, but he has also been the cause of so much pain and suffering. I have a great sample of relatives going back many generations. Now, my family has to wonder, is he out there? Dr Hicks induced some babies early, and they would have been put in incubators had then been born that early today. Hed ask them to put on a medical gown and lay down on a table. Hed do anything for anybody sometimes hed pay a price for it, she said. Now fast forward 50 years, memories are skewed, you feel differently now, maybe you wish things were different. If you find ANYTHING humane or OKAY about that then God so help you! Chang, Juju, Jasmine Brown, Geoff Martz and Lauren Effron. My mother/father picked me up from a nurse in a hotel in 1967. She noted to the TV station many of them went to good homes and led successful lives. After watching this documentary I can see how he got away with it for so long. He buried them for her (such a nice guy) and gave her a birth certificate stating they were stillborn. He did not have any choice but to lie on the birth certificates. In a small town filled with economical hardships, Hicks saw a need among pregnant women, although abortions conflicted with his faith, according to Narratively. Just horrible! The illegal adoptions that were allegedly arranged by Dr. Hicks were not discovered until after his death. She said she heard her baby cry then Doc Hicks told her he was still born. Who Are the Hicks Babies? - Who are You Made Of? You should be ashamed of yourself because you have no idea of the pain he caused many families! In the 1950s and 60s a small-town Georgia family doctor illegally sold hundreds of babies from the back door of his practice. Unless you were one of the babies there is no way you could know what its like to have this to happen to you. My Mama and Dad were married and biological parents to my brother. Dr. Thomas J. Hicks performed abortions in the 1950s, long before abortions were legalized in Roe v. Wade. He surrendered his Georgia medical license to halt his prosecution.2. AND IN ALL ACTUALITY HICKS LIED TO HER TO GET HER TWIN BOYS AND MADE OVER 2000 OFF OF HER PAIN. Eventually, in 1964, he was caught performing an abortion and was summarily stripped of his medical license. Dr Thomas Hicks Family Tree With Complete Detail, Goler Clan Family Tree Check All Members List. There was no reason not to dig up his grave. me are my real parents or not as i am finding out not every thing they told me about family is real. If it was a black-market clinic, there probably arent any records of the transaction. I know your heart aches. Then you missed the entirety of the story. Are there any unresolved feelings or unanswered questions you're still working to unravel? Youve got poor, pregnant, unmarried women, who then need to come up with a story for their friends and/or families as to why there is no newborn . Dr. Hicks was married and had two kids a son and a daughter. How many women died themselves never knowing that they had a child or children out there and how many children, now adults, will never know their biological parents because its just too late and most of them have passed? 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. Our filters are much different than the ones from that period of time. Adopting families from out of town often drove up to the door. 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. 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. Babies were handed out to them through the door or window. Just one grandparent can lead you to many As a result, he could not provide information that would help the babies find their parents or the other way around.4. Father of Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Jr; Dr Walter Lynn Hicks and Private Powered by. In these cases, Hicks would forge a birth certificate and give the baby to adoptive parents in secret from his Georgia clinic. Thomas, or Dr. Hicks, was one of six children. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. 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. How is the river any worse, I ask you? But those he left behind have differing opinions on his actions. He let loose some real chaos into this world.. Ray, you bring up an excellent reason why everyone has the right to know who their biological family is. The six-part, three-night special revisits the case of Dr. Thomas J. Hicks, who sold or gave away more than 200 infants from the '40s to the '60s By Jeff Truesdell Published on October 8, 2019 10: . 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.. My brother was born in the middle 1930s. The method of the illegal adoptions has left many questions for those who started their lives in Hicks clinic. Blasio went on to help dozens of Hicks babies so they could track down their birth parents and relatives. Now, they are using the power of DNA to reunite with their biological families. Hicks Baby Adoptee Sold by Georgia Doctor 50 Years Ago Reunites With Birth Mother, Brother. 'Black market baby' meets biological father in Gallatin 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. Looking for a DNA test that's accurate and can tell you about your health and heritage? 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. Prior to that, he was practicing just across the state line in Copperhill, Tennessee, and could well have been selling babies then. The Hicks Babies - The DNA Geek In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, a doctor was selling babies from his small town abortion clinic in the heart of McCaysville, Georgia. I am a mother of a baby born in 2016 at 30 weeks 3lbs in an amazing NICU I couldnt imagine if my son was born in his condition back then. Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is the "bad guy" featured in a three-part docuseries titled Taken At Birth. There were cases where Hicks talked women out of abortion. Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks Dr Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. If he does, youll want to be in whichever database he decides to use. With the judges help, she learned that the clinic sold babies while they were still open. 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. Could you imagine the survival rate back then for babies 3lb or 4lbs. So far, there are no positive DNA matches between babies and parents from the database. Copyright 2023 Who are You Made Of? Dr. Thomas J. Hicks died at age 83 on March 5, 1972, after a battle with leukemia. She grieved her the rest of her life for her first born son. i hope everything gets better for those kids and those parents. Instead, he illegally sold the babies for approximately $800 to $1,000 each.1. Dr. Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in 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. He was born in April 1964 Sumner County TN from what he knows. Despite the illegality of the abortions, Hicks would advertise the service at phone booths, bus stations and bridges, according to Appalachian History. Those who likely knew what happened may have died as well. There is no evidence that any of the babies that were adopted through the actions of Dr. Hicks are related to him. Barbara, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. All in all, I cannot condemn him. about dr thomas hicks family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. 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. However, only four of his siblings survived to adulthood. Exactly! Copyright 2023 The DNA Geek Ascension WordPress theme by, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), New TLC Special Taken At Birth Dives into Shocking Hicks Babies Black Market Adoption Scandal, Babies For Sale: The Secret Adoptions That Haunt One Georgia Town, Hicks Baby Adoptee Sold by Georgia Doctor 50 Years Ago Reunites With Birth Mother, Brother, Busted not for selling babies, but for the abortion clinic, 23andMe Introduces the Automated Family Tree , The Hicks Babies The DNA Geek | Ups and Downs of Family History V2.0, https://thednageek.com/how-to-transfer-your-ancestrydna-test-to-other-databases/, Book Review: I Know Who You Are, by Barbara Rae-Venter, Up Your DNA Game With New Courses in 2023, Verogen Increases Costs for Law Enforcement Again, A Board of Certification for Investigative Genetic Genealogy Is Announced. Thomas, or Dr. Hicks, was one of six children. "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSZD-WWR: accessed 10 April 2021), Thos J Hicks in household of D Flem Hicks, Civil District 10, Sullivan, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 110, sheet 7A, family 118 She was present when authorities opened the mausoleum. When families came to his clinic to adopt babies, Hicks made the women pretend they had just given birth. Within a decade, he was not only performing illegal abortions but selling newborns on the black market. 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. Unfortunately, Hicks kept no records of the birth mothers. My oldest would have been born in Akron in 1960. There is absolutely NO defense for that.He treated these babies like they were nothing more than a puppy mill money making machine. The biological mothers of these individuals were persuaded to give their babies up for adoption and they were allegedly sold to their adoptive parents through the Hicks Clinic, owned by Dr. Hicks. Dr. Thomas Hicks died of leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Tlc Presents the Untold Story Behind the "Hicks Babies" Black Market 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. Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks By learning about the family trees of their 2nd-3rd cousins, they can identify groups of DNA matches who are related to each other through the same common ancestor. Ive heard that many times in my life by a lot of people. The primary purpose of this post is to explain how those children who were adopted through the Hicks Clinic have been able to use their DNA to discover close relatives, and sometimes, the identities of their biological parents. Oh well for them, I was raised in those mountains and Im not afraid of them. Since these adoptions were discovered more than two decades after Dr. Hicks death, there are many details of the story that may never be uncovered. 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. In 2020 a 4lb baby as a very good chance of not making it even with amazing NICUs in todays age. 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. These include the nurse, the secretary who signed the false documents, Hicks lawyer, and the sheriff who investigated Hicks illegal abortion clinic. You can see for yourself google him. 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. Are you on drugs. Hicks Babies Update (2023) All You Need to Know - KnowYourDNA I mean no disrespect towards anyone. 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. TLC's "Taken at Birth" will explore Thomas J. Hicks. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. I cannot imagine being one of these babies. 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. Yes. His parents were David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Holt. He ran the Hicks Community Clinic and offered his services to poor copper mining families. Genealogy for Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Sr (1888 - 1972) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Some of Hicks Babies, as they are sometimes referred to as, have done DNA tests in order to identify relatives who might be able to help them learn who their birth parents were. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3186644/Adopted-woman-51-SO Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Sr worked as Physician. 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. Dr Hicks told some of the mothers that their babies died, then he sold them. 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. We only know about the ones who survived. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. The illegal adoptions stopped in 1964 when Hicks . And then today, with abortions being legal, aborted babies are having their body parts SOLD what a repugnant thought. I can empathize because of some similarities, but I cannot fully understand. He delivered many babies in Tennessee before they ran him out of the state.

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