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The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption Kindle Edition

4.0 out of 5 stars 907

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.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. 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 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, 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 "until we do, Tann and her imitators will continue to corrupt adoption." A rigorous, fascinating, page-turning tale, this important book is not for the timorous.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year in 2007!

“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...A rigorous, fascinating, page-turning tale.” – Publishers Weekly starred review

 

“A fascinating dark tale of Ms. Tann's influence [that] gives voice to the brokenhearted children and their birth parents damaged by her actions. …[R]iveting.” –Dallas Morning News

 

“Raymond recounts this astonishing and horrifying true story with tremendous self-awareness and intrepid research into Tann's ongoing legacy.” – The Tampa Tribune

 

“Fascinating, insightful, chilling and compelling.  A very important book – and a terrific read.” – Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and author of Adoption Nation

 

"The Baby Thief is a hallmark of investigative journalism—an emotionally charged story of families living through a dark and complex time in American history. It is handled with honesty and tact. It will change you forever."--Doris Booth, Authorlink.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009W748I2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press (April 29, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 29, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 647 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 907

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Barbara Bisantz Raymond
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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
907 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2023
This book contains a lot of good information. Thank you for lending your voice to those still seeking their families lost. I recommend this book. In memory of my precious father in law, Fred Crumley, who was an amazing dad, paw, I am still seeking truth for our family. His birth mother was Carrie Cates. He was adopted from The Tennessee Children's Home Society, along with a sister.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2017
What a fascinating story. There was a lady I'd never heard of in Memphis who aggressively collected kids from poor families and adopted them out to wealthy families in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Really interesting discussion of her personality, life and the larger crime syndicate she was part of.

I thought it was odd, uncomfortable actually when the author abruptly started telling her story, not of being adopted but because she had adopted a baby and doing this research brought up feelings about her experience adopting. We went from a gripping investigative piece to a first-person journal entry and then back to the investigation. If I were her editor, I would have left that in the Foreward or Preface. It distracted from the many more cases of adopted kids and broken families she could have spent her time on. The writing was generally clear and informative.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
Very interesting story however I feel it could be better written, was difficult to read. Sad story for sure on how adoption got started and the corruption that was involved.
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
I read this book after reading "Before we were yours" - I'm almost positive that was the title, almost, it's close. It was about sisters who met way later in life, after being reconnected by their brother. I have no idea, nor credentials to say whether or not people lived in/on boats in GA, AL, FL (etc) but that story is about 5 kids who are taken from their houseboat when their mother has complications giving birth to #6 & has to go to a hospital & they're taken to THIS WOMAN. This was supposed to be back in the 30-40's. When I read, at the end of that book that this woman REALLY EXISTED & not only got away with it, she had HELP!!!! In the form of government officials & the police - SHE TOOK & SOLD OTHER PEOPLE'S BABIES & CHILDREN!!!!

I wrote it in my heading but they may make me change it... this b_____ is TRULY FORTUNATE she was in Hell by the time I was born & had my children! I probably would've made it my MISSION IN LIFE to destroy her!!! What a heinous human - well, I won't say she was a human being - no person with FEELINGS could ever do that, much less make a living from it!!

I mean, IF she just wanted to help girls who - got in trouble & she charged the adoptive parents... THAT IS WHAT humans do!! She could've done that but to TAKE; I don't care if they were poor - poor people have more LOVE!!!! (& less fat!!) She was a ... UGH ... vile person!!

I gave it 5 stars b/c people should KNOW about this! Here we are, these days with so MANY DIFFERENT MEDICAL CONDITIONS, that oddly they didn't have 100 years ago. Well, no one knew (or did anything about it) so .... rather than blame vaccines that have proven to keep our society healthier; why aren't we all doing our DNA to see WHO we're related to & make sure we don't marry our cousins because of this greedy wench!!!! It wouldn't be this generation, it would've been our grandparents in the 30 & 40's! (Well, MY grandparents were born in the 30's ... FAR AWAY FROM this rag bag, (up north) Thank you Lord! I'm blessed they're still with me to see MY children grow! Well my Grandma has had Alzheimer's for a few years now. I don't like to talk about it b/c I lost my paternal grandfather to Alzheimer's in early 2016)

It's an almost unbelievable story, but there are many people who - obviously were affected by her deeds, there are, as I said above - probably hundreds of thousands more who have NO IDEA their lives were affected by her! IF parents "planned" to tell their kids one day but they both passed away in a tragic accident when they were little - those kids STILL still think those people were their biological parents!! People truly need to realize what just ONE lie can do.
Read when you're not in a bad mood or angry because this story & this ... woman will make you angry...And it'll make you hug your kids!!
14 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2023
Well written if a little long winded at times. I never knew this ugly side of adoption and it's frightening. Kudos to this writer for bringing this out. Very informative.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
Whatever you thought you knew about adoption in general is probably going to be proven wrong with this book. The story was one that most of us have had a little notion happened in the past but the blinders are pulled off after reading just a few chapters of this book.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2023
I was interested in reading this because I didn't know much about Georgia Tann and I knew that my MIL was one of the babies Georgia sold to a movie star. The book was a bit confusing to follow as it jumped around a bit and I pretty much skipped through the last section, as it was mostly about general adoption info before and after, as well as some repetitive stories I'd already read in the earlier parts of the book. But if you don't know about Georgia Tann, it's worth a read to learn what a disgusting piece of garbage she and her partners in crime were.
9 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2014
The story of Georgia Tann is interesting, but the way this author writes the story is SO repetitive in her facts it makes the book VERY difficult to get through. She repeats the same information over and over and over, almost as if she's trying to fill space to make the book as long as she possibly can! I didn't like this book and wouldn't recommend it.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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MT
5.0 out of 5 stars Duro de leer pero excelente
Reviewed in Spain on November 1, 2023
Lo compré para documentarme sobre la historia de esta ladrona de niños. Se nota el enorme trabajo de investigación que hizo la periodista, y su implicación personal en todo el asunto (es madre adoptiva). Ha sido muy interesante de leer ya que el estilo es ameno y está muy bien traducido, y, como he dicho, la autora pone su corazón en cada párrafo. Pero hay momentos en que me resultaba toda esta injusticia tan indignante y otros tan duros de leer que se me saltaban las lágrimas.
Gracias a la autora por su enorme esfuerzo.
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Real true history of adoption
Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2020
Thoroughly researched. Puts a face on human trafficking. How it is driven by lust and greed and no consideration given to people's rights, exploiting the poor and vulnerable... A real eye opener... Hard to fathom that it took till 1990 before adoptees had access to their records... Only to find them falsified... Very sad...
2 people found this helpful
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JosephB
2.0 out of 5 stars Unjournalistic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2013
This book was conceived and first presented as a magazine article. It would have been best left that way. The author is not an objective journalist. She proves very little of what she presents as fact.Her accusations, although they may have the ring of truth are rarely examined in context with the social mores of the time. A scholarly examination of the US attitude to childcare bearing in mind ideas about respectability and morality would be interesting. This is only interesting occasionally. It is disjointed and over-emotional and often crudely executed.
One person found this helpful
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Lucy fan.
5.0 out of 5 stars A slice of history
Reviewed in Canada on January 26, 2019
Horrifically interesting
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