As both private and state-run orphanages, foundling homes, infant homes and other facilities that cared for the babies of unmarried women became over-crowded, the stage was set for black and gray market adoptions - the sale of human beings for profit.
A fee of as much as $10,000 and in many cases much less, would guarantee delivery of a baby. It didn't matter who you were; if you had the money you could buy a baby. No background checks were made and records were often falisfied.
Most birth mothers, desparate not to bring shame upon their families or naive enough to believe everything they were told, checked into hospitals using the adoptive mother's name. Identification was not required and it appeared, at least on paper, that the adoptive mother had, indeed, given birth to her baby.
Depending upon the decade, babies were born in someone's home, in the doctor's office, a maternity home for unwed mothers or in a hospital. As waiting lists for a newborn became longer and prospective adoptive parents grew frustrated with agency protocol, or in some cases agency rejection, the black and gray market seemed the fastest means to the desired end.
The availability of babies was spread by word of mouth as well as newspaper advertisements. Couples easily knew who to contact and how much money was needed. The young woman giving birth usually knew much less. She likely found herself in an "unfortunate situation" and was sent away. She was told her baby would be given to loving parents and provided with all the things she could never offer. Most were never told their babies would be sold; a few were given a paltry sum of money for their trouble.
By whatever under-handed practices the black or gray market adoption was carried out, one fact is certain. It left little or no paper trail and, for the most part, protected those involved at the time. More recently, as adoptees seek to reunite with their birth families or, at the very least obtain their biological family medical hsitory, black or gray market adoptees face a more difficult task.
Some of the most noted black market operations are listed here. Bessie Bernard, a widow in Brooklyn, New York, sold many babies for a fine price, had many run-ins with the law and evaded them much of the time. She was finally fined and sentenced to one year in prison.
Read newspaper articles about Bessie Bernard.
Dr. Katherine Cole, Miami, Florida, housed unmarried, pregnant woman, delivered their babies and falsified birth records, listing the adoptive mother as the birth mother and then sold the baby for a price. Some of her clients paid as little as $100 for a baby only hours old.
Read more about Katherine Cole, her involvement in the Kefauver hearings, her arrests and the adoptees known as Cole Babies
Thomas Hicks, a doctor in McCaysville, Georgia, sold babies born in his clinic from 1951 to 1965 while most of the town turned a blind eye.
Read more about Dr. Hicks and the adoptees known as Hicks Babies.
Helen Tanos Hope was an attorney in Florida. Between 1960 and 1990 she handled private adoptions of children in South Florida, many to Jewish families in the New York-New Jersey area. After her death in 1994, her records were rescued from a dumpster, turned over to another attorney and now are located at the Florida Department of Children and Families. While she appeared to keep accurate records and her adoption practices fell within the law, she participated in selling babies to the highest bidder.
William and Lila Young ran the Ideal Maternity Home in Nova Scotia. They sold babies for as much as $10,000 in addition to charging steep fees the young girls living in their home. The mortality rate was high and Mrs. Young's treatment often rough.
Their operation is detailed in "Butterbox Babies."
Jerome Niles, a doctor, conducted business out of a residential building in Maryland. His babies were sold in the the 1930's and 40's. He opened a home for unwed mothers, much like a posh hotel. The doctor is now dead and his records lost or destroyed.
Gertrude Pitkanen performed illegal abortions and also sold babies in Butte, Montana for twenty-five years. "Gertie's babies" brought at much as $500 and after the purchase, adoptive parents were instructed to dump the placenta on the side of the road as they were driving home with the newborn they had just purchased.
Georgia Tann, a Tennessee social worker who organized the Tennessee Children's Home Society, gained her wealth by literally snatching babies from their mothers' arms under the guise of providing medical attention, and selling them, telling the mother the baby had died. She ran her scam from the 1920's to the 1940's. Georgia Tann died before she could be prosecuted.
Ruby Hightower sold babies out of her Health Home in Texarkana, Texas for over fifty years. A prominent business owner, her clients were often leading families and her fee was $500. The unwed mothers were medicated to sleep through the birth. They were frequently told their babies died. One family went to the funeral home to pick up the casket. It was already closed and they were told it was because the baby was too bruised to see. Years later a judge agreed to have the grave opened. It was no surprise to anyone that it was empty, with no trace of a child.
Dr. Mary gave children to anyone who needed them. She did not keep records for the more than 4,000 babies she delivered. She avoided the law by listing the adoptive parents on the birth certificate.
Seymour Fenichel, his daughter Deborah Fenichel Greenspan, attorneys; Harriet and Lawrence Lauer, all from New York City were a part of a baby broker operation that sold babies to the highest bidder in such unusual places as a parking lot of an International House of Pancakes. The unwed teenage mothers had been lured through tabloid ads.
There were many others who patricipated in the black and gray market adoption rings. Scores of others brokered babies for a fine profit. I will add to this page as I continue to research.
Back To The Adoption Experience Homepage.
Some maternity homes operated above board while other were no more than baby brokers.
Over-crowding in orphanages in the east lead to the transport of hundreds of children to the midwest. Most never saw their parents again.
Read about these trains, the agencies who provided the young travelers, carrying few belongings and not knowing where they would end up.
Registration Day (Reg Day) an annual event to encourage and support. Any birth family member or adoptee can register at ISRR.net for free.
There are many search angels. Some work entirely for free, some work on a no find-no fee basis and others charge very reasonable rates. This page coming soon.
Search and support groups exist all over the internet. Many such groups work certain state and others work nationwide. Some groups are more active than others. In this section, I'll provide links so you can join the groups which are best suited to your individual search; there is no fee.
I want to tell everyone about a new
and FREE genealogy social network that is available to all of you. You can send messages to
genealogists in more than 20 countries, find genealogists who read and speak other languages
and ask a genealogist in over 1600 cities to do a look-up for you.