The baby thief: the untold story of Georgia Tann, the baby seller who corrupted adoption

The shocking story of Geogia Tann, a notorious dealer in black-market babies between 1920 and 1950 whose actions ultimately popularized--and corrupted--adoption as we know it today. For almost three decades, renowned baby-seller Georgia Tann ran a children's home in Memphis, Tennessee--selling her charges to wealthy clients nationwide, Joan Crawford among them. Part social history, part detective story, part expose, The Baby Thief is a riveting investigative narrative that explores themes that continue to reverberate today.

for Almost Three Decades, Renowned Baby-seller Georgia Tann Ran A Children’s Home In Memphis, Tennessee — Selling Her Charges To Wealthy Clients Nationwide, Joan Crawford Among Them. Part Social History, Part Detective Story, Part Expose, the Baby Thief Is A Riveting Investigative Narrative That Explores Themes That Continue To Reverberate Today.

publishers Weekly

an Episode In American Adoption History Little Remembered By The Public At Large, The Crimes Of Nationally Lauded Memphis Orphanage Director Georgia Tann Are Skillfully And Passionately Recounted By Freelance Writer Raymond, Herself An Adoptive Mom. The Portrait Of Tann That Emerges Is That Of A Domineering, Indefatigable Figure With An Insane Commitment To Ends-justify-the-means Logic Who Oversaw Three Decades Of Baby Stealing, Baby Selling And Unprecedented Neglect. Meanwhile, She Did More To Popularize, Commercialize And Influence Adoption In America Than Anyone Before Her. Tann Operated Carte Blanche Under Corrupt Mayor Edward Hull Crump From The 1920s To The '50s, Employing A Nefarious Network Of Judges, Attorneys, Social Workers And Politicos, Whom She Sometimes Bribed With Free Babies; Her Clients Included The Rich, The Famous And The Entirely Unfit (who More Than Occasionally Returned Their Disappointing Children For A Refund). Spotters Located Babies And Young Children Ripe For Abduction-from Women Too Uneducated Or Exhausted To Fight Back-and Tann Made Standard Practice Of Altering Birth Certificates And Secreting Away Adoption Records To Attract Buyers And Cover Her Tracks-self-serving Moves That Have Become Standard Practice In Modern Adoption. A Riveting Array Of Interviews With Tann's Former Charges Reveals Adults Still Struggling With Their Adoption Ordeal And Childhood Memories Stacked With Sexual Abuse, Torture And Confusion. Raymond's Dogged Investigation Makes A Strong Case For Ridding Adoptions Of Lies And Secrets, Warning That [u]ntil We Do, [tann] And Her Imitators Will Continue To Corrupt Adoption. A Rigorous, Fascinating, Page-turning Tale, Thisimportant Book Is Not For The Timorous. (may)

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Traces the story of a notorious black-market baby dealer whose illicit operation between 1920 and 1950 was largely dependent on her success in coercing the abandonment and kidnapping of abused and disadvantaged babies.