Three New Reads...

The latest reads were all on a related subject and began because a friend recommended a novel entitled Before We Were Yours by journalist and author Lisa Wingate. A fictionalized account of the work and crimes of Georgia Tann, the story is told from several perspectives, including that of a twelve year old girl who, along with her siblings, is kidnapped from their boat on the river in Memphis, Tennessee. The kids are stashed in a holding house and sold off to prospective parents for large sums of money. Their parents who are at the hospital delivering twins are told the babies were stillborn when in fact each was also taken and sold to adoptive parents. Abuse while in stash houses was also common.

Tann popularized adoption via adverts, speeches and public appearances and was sought after for her opinion on so-called closed adoption policy, a legacy which remains today. Under the protection of Edward H. "Boss" Crump's political machine which included lawyers, judges, some doctors and social workers, Tann's tactics and her wealth and power remained for twenty-five years, cloaked in secrecy, despite mounting concerns, until her death in 1950 on the heels of Crump's outsture from state and local politics.  Tann died before she could face any charges stemming from the investigation launched by the then recently elected Tennessee governor Gordon Browning.

The second book, Before and After, also by Wingate and journalist colleague Judy Christie, details the childhoods and adult lives of several so-called Tann babies who take part in a reunion. Some of the stories are heart wrenching. Others left me angry.

The third book is one used by Wingate in her research, The Baby Thief by Barbara Bisantz Raymond. An adoptive parent, Raymond writes extensively about Tann, her life, her view of children as commodities for power and profit and her impact on adoption policy in America. Raymond neither shirks from the details of Tann's criminality nor  does she mince words when saying that Tann lacked empathy, flouted existing laws to suit herself. is known to have abused children and appeared to lack a conscience. out of which the need for secrecy, falsifying birth certificates and other policies grew. While some states now allow open adoptions or open records, many do not and baby brokering still exists as does the belief that young. single women should surrender their children to wealthier, married couples. Raymond points out that prior to Tann, who worked from 1920 to 1950, adoption efforts focused on finding the home for the child rather than the child for the home.