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. 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. Did your mother give birth in Akron or in McCaysville? Im sorry but thats a totally twisted way of thinking in my view!! At-home DNA testing wasnt available until recently. She did tell me she heard her baby cry and Dr Hicks told her he was still born. 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. Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Sr (1888 - 1972) - geni family tree. Her initial search was unsuccessful, so she contacted a Georgia probate attorney. Women who wanted abortions would be talked into keeping the pregnancy so he could sell the baby once it arrived. Evil does not begin to describe this man. Is like $10,000. The Hicks babies seemed to have mixed feelings about his actions from the Narratively profile. Dr Thomas Hicks Family Tree With Complete Detail, Goler Clan Family Tree Check All Members List. After watching this documentary I can see how he got away with it for so long. Aside from families that might eventually tell their adult children, the only hope Hicks babies have of finding their biological relatives is DNA tracking. If you have any questions about something that you read in this post, please join in the discussion below. 1910 - Civil District 10, Sullivan, Tennessee, USA, Lucy E Hicks, Carrie E Hicks, Laura A Hicks, David Fleming Hicks, Mary Louise Hicks (born Holt), Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Jr, Walter Lynn Hicks, Margaret Mary Brown (born Hicks), est Hicks, Lucy Elizabeth Ketron (born Hicks), John William Hicks, Hicks, Carrie Ellen Dickson (born Hicks), Anna Laura Bradley (born Hicks), Samuel Ernest Hicks, Lucy Elizabeth Ketron, John William Hicks, Unknown Hicks, Carrie Ellen Dickson, Anna Laura Bradley (born Hicks), Samuel Earnest Hicks, Lucy Elizabeth Hicks, John William Hicks, Unknown Hicks, Carrie Ellen Dickson (born Hicks), Annie Laurie Hicks, Lucy E Hicks, Carrie Ellen Hicks, Anna Laura Wisdom Bradley (born Hicks), Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Walter Lynn Hicks, Margaret Brown (born Hicks), Mary Edith Rogers Davis, Thomas J Jr Hicks, W Lynn Hicks, Margaret Hicks, Bloomingdale, Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States, Copperhill, Polk County, Tennessee, United States, Crestlawn, Polk County, Tennessee, United States. It may have started with good intentions, but these babies deserve the truth and they deserve it now. All of Dr. Hicks grandparents were born in Tennessee, as were many of his great-grandparents. Thats a totally twisted way of thinking!!! Theres a documentary on the Hicks Babies that Im assuming you havent seen. Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, the man behind the Hicks Babies, ran a small clinic in the tiny town of McCaysville, Georgia. They should at least be thankful that they werent aborted. My mother grieved for her baby the rest if her life! This is how those who were adopted can identify the parents or grandparents of their biological parents. He told some of the biological mothers that they had undergone an abortion. 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. 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. TLC's "Taken at Birth" will explore Thomas J. Hicks. Within a decade, he was not only performing illegal abortions but selling newborns on the black market. Corinthios, Aurelie. 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. Nor did he put women in touch with legal adoption providers. However, many people are able to discover closer relatives, like aunts and uncles or even half-siblings, through DNA testing. Mama had seven more babies after that(Im the youngest)she never stopped grieving for her oldest son. Appalachian History says his daughter is still alive and living in North Carolina. The method of the illegal adoptions has left many questions for those who started their lives in Hicks clinic. Clearly, you have never lost a child. Buying or selling A CHILDTHERE IS EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THAT! The charges didnt mention that he sold babies or had them illegally adopted. I had a brother who was given up for adoption by his mother in Tennessee. In 2020 a 4lb baby as a very good chance of not making it even with amazing NICUs in todays age. Thanks, 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. He would sell the babies to parents who wanted to adopt but couldnt afford to do so legally. Did you like this post? In the documentary they have a positive match for Dr Hicks fathering one of the babies. 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. is anything else your are looking? He is buried in Crest Lawn Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. On the documentary the officer in the second episode claimed he gave a relative of his a shot and she died 30min later. 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. View Ancestry DNA Matches By Ancestor With ThruLines. She never got over it. At the very least, she helps them learn more about their birth stories and roots. Many had no idea they were adopted until well into adulthood. She said she heard her baby cry then Doc Hicks told her he was still born. 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. Kriste Hughes is reunited with her mother, Thelma Tipton, and big brother Roger Tipton, after Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks illegally sold her to adoptive parents . Dr. Thomas J. Hicks performed abortions in the 1950s, long before abortions were legalized in Roe v. Wade. The story is told on Taken at Birth. I do hope your brother survived and is out there somewhere. To protect their privacy, I have chosen not to mention any of the individuals who were adopted by name in this article. What he provided were lies to young mothers and fathers who wanted their babies ! This is accomplished through the careful study of DNA matches. They look exactly alike. It was discovered that Dr. Thomas J. Hicks had been selling newborns from the small-town facility's backdoor for $1000. I understand the concept of not being able to conceive and being grateful to receive a child but that was not a win/win situation by any stretch of the imagination. The son, Gillam Thomas Hicks, and his family will be featured in next week's column. Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972 at the age of 83. Categories Searching for Biological Family. Many came forward after their adoptive families said they were from the Hicks clinic. We will never know the hell they have suffered. Estimates show Hicks sold about 200 babies from the 1940s to the 1960s.3. These babies were born between 3.5 and 4.75 lbs.. very unfavorable!! Her decade-long search for her birth parents led to the exposure of Hicks' illegal babies. She carried him to full term and went to Dr Hicks to deliver her baby! You can see for yourself google him. If it was a black-market clinic, there probably arent any records of the transaction. Hicks may not have been in Georgia during that time, but if he was in TN that might be a lead. 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. Test prices are here: https://thednageek.com/dna-tests/ What Was the Immigration Process at Ellis Island Like? What is the Egypt DNA Region on Ancestry? It can sometimes be more difficult to pinpoint the exact identify of someones biological parents without closer cousins, such as first cousins. He induced labor and delivered low birth weight babies that were in danger of dying. That $1000. She is a brave woman who helped a lot of people find answers. (@Angel5Christine) October 8, 2019. I so agree with you. Hicks didnt oversee legal 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. Dr Hicks told some of the mothers that their babies died, then he sold them. But there was nothing in it. Dr. Hicks was married and had two kids a son and a daughter. Unless you were one of the babies there is no way you could know what its like to have this to happen to you. Blasio confirmed with the county birth records that she was likely one of the hundreds of babies sold between 1950 and 1965.2. Anyways the family is from Georgia and they film there as well. About 15 of the 200+ babies have been reunited with their biological parents. Now, my family has to wonder, is he out there? You saw it. All in all, I cannot condemn him. My heart breaks for your mama and for your whole family. Quietly, because the clinic he'd been running since the mid-1940s was not a licensed adoption agency. His parents were David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Holt. Theyre an invaluable resource for parentage searches. He then relocated just across the line in McCaysville Georgia. Many are still trying to find their biological relatives. 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 The Hicks babies were babies sold by Dr. Thomas J. Hicks to different families. Just one grandparent can lead you to many This man was worse than the plague! Many of those from Hicks small town defended his actions. So telling a mother that her baby died at birth while he sold it out his back door was fine with you? Holy smokes! Dr Hicks quickly hushed the nurse and gave my grandma something to make her sleep. "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNX9-1PS: 4 December 2014), Thos J Hicks and Chassie Copeland, 07 Jun 1917; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 2008); citing p. 222, Polk, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. The motives of Hicks actions are unclear. Babies born that early would need to remain in the hospital. Some on here commented that the bio moms were likely unwed and didnt want the babies. Dr Thomas Hicks Family Tree Do You Know These Top Templates? Dr. Hicks did lose his medical license in 1964 due to an infraction unrelated to the illegal adoptions. Dr. Hicks, who passed away at the age of 83, was born in 1888 in Picket County, Tennessee. His wife and son both passed away, and his daughter lives in North Carolina, according to Appalachian History. No one with half a brain can even think that is good. In these cases, Hicks would forge a birth certificate and give the baby to adoptive parents in secret from his Georgia clinic. Geni requires JavaScript! 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.
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