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and for everyone. Southern

1:02

Fried True Crime covers cases that are not

1:04

suitable for young listeners, and there

1:06

may also be some explicit language used. Listener

1:10

discretion is advised. On

1:14

March 5, 1972,

1:16

the residents of McCaysville, Georgia were in mourning.

1:19

Their beloved former town doctor had lost his

1:21

battle with leukemia and passed away at

1:24

age 83, leaving

1:26

behind a wife, son, and daughter. Doc

1:29

Hicks had a reputation as being the

1:31

kind of doctor everyone needs. He'd

1:34

do anything for anyone. In

1:36

the poor, remote copper mining town straddling

1:39

the Georgia-Tennessee border in the Blue Ridge

1:41

Mountains, people didn't always have

1:43

money for medical services. And

1:45

if they did, it often wasn't enough. But

1:48

Dr. Hicks provided a level of

1:51

care and various services without judgment

1:53

or demanding payment from those who

1:55

truly couldn't afford life-saving treatment. It

1:59

wasn't unusual for him. him to be paid in

2:01

a sack of potatoes. He

2:03

was part of the fabric of McCasell and

2:05

was said by many to be not only one

2:07

of the best physicians, but one of the best

2:09

men they knew. However,

2:12

others took a different view. The

2:15

same man, who had donated an

2:17

organ to the local church and gave medicine

2:19

away for free, had once stolen

2:21

a watch from the arm of a dying patient.

2:25

So not everyone was a fan of Dr. Hicks.

2:28

But 25 years after his death, a

2:30

much greater scandal would emerge. It

2:33

rocked not just the small town, but

2:35

the entire country. The

2:38

Hippocratic Oath all physicians must uphold

2:40

throughout their career is above all

2:42

else, do no harm. The

2:45

people of McCasell were about to discover

2:47

that someone they had trusted with their

2:49

lives and who they felt had been

2:51

nothing but professional was accused

2:53

of something so harmful and so

2:56

contrary to the nature of the man they knew, it was

2:59

hard to believe. Welcome

3:03

to Episode 203, The Hicks

3:05

Babies. Thomas

3:08

Jugrathy Hicks was born on October 18, 1888

3:10

in Bloomington, Tennessee to parents David

3:14

and Mary. One of

3:16

six children, he graduated from Emory University

3:18

Medical School in 1917. And

3:21

that summer, married 24-year-old Sullivan County

3:24

woman Chas Copeland. The

3:26

couple settled in Copper Hill, Tennessee and had

3:29

three children. Their son

3:31

also became a doctor, but died suddenly in

3:33

1967 at age 44. While

3:37

Chas became a Sunday school teacher, her

3:40

husband took a job with the Tennessee Copper Company,

3:43

treating minors he diagnosed with

3:45

fatal lung conditions. But

3:48

in 1932, when the doctor was discovered

3:50

submitting an excessive amount of claims compared

3:53

to the size of the company's workforce, he

3:55

was fired. Dr.

3:57

Hicks ran into trouble again in 1943. serving

4:01

time in jail for illegally selling

4:03

narcotics and was subsequently struck

4:05

off in Tennessee. Despite

4:07

this setback, just 10 months later

4:10

following his release, the doctor

4:12

opened a clinic several blocks away from his home.

4:15

It was just across the border in the

4:17

tiny north Georgian town of McCaseville in Fanon

4:20

County, home to just over 2,000 people. The

4:23

unassuming, blonde brick one-story building had

4:26

distinctive green and white striped awnings.

4:29

McCaseville is the twin city of Copper

4:31

Hill, Tennessee. Both Appalachian

4:33

towns are situated along one

4:35

river whose name varies depending

4:37

on where you are in relation to the state line. In

4:40

Tennessee, it's the Ocoee River, while

4:43

in Georgia, it's the Takoa River. The

4:46

state line itself runs right through downtown

4:48

McCaseville through the grocery store parking lot.

4:52

Dr. Hicks was well-respected and warmly

4:54

embraced by the community. He

4:56

was personable, charming, and made

4:58

house calls regardless of the hour. Patients

5:01

felt at ease in his presence and trusted

5:03

him without a question. He

5:06

became a charter member of the Adams Bible

5:08

class of the town's First Baptist Church, president

5:11

of the Kiwanis Club, and a member of

5:13

Copper Hill Lodge. But

5:16

Dr. Hicks was working at a time

5:18

when reproductive rights for women in Georgia

5:20

were non-existent. In the 1940s

5:23

and 50s, conservative Southern America, birth

5:25

control wasn't readily available and unmarried

5:27

mothers were much aligned. Anyone

5:30

finding themselves unexpectedly pregnant and not

5:32

wanting to be was thrust

5:34

into a terrifying world of fear and

5:37

uncertainty. It was the same

5:39

for married women who couldn't afford another mouth to

5:41

feed. Many women

5:43

died as a result of a lack of

5:45

access to safe and affordable

5:47

abortions, either through trying to

5:49

perform one themselves, having one at

5:52

the hands of an unqualified backyard operator, or

5:54

by suicide. According

5:57

to the Akron Beacon Journal, Dr. Hicks

5:59

advocated advertised what he called pregnancy

6:01

care services on phone booths,

6:04

overpasses, and at bus stations. For

6:07

$100, about $1200 in today's

6:09

money, he performed safe abortions

6:12

when many other physicians wouldn't. Of

6:15

course adoption was an option, but

6:17

this process had recently been the subject

6:19

of much scandal at a national level

6:21

when the crimes of Tennessee woman Georgia

6:23

Tan were exposed just before her death

6:25

in 1950. Back

6:29

in 2020, I released episode

6:31

95 on Georgia Tan, entitled

6:33

Pedophile Kidnapper and Inventor of

6:35

Modern Adoption. From

6:38

the 1920s, Tan trafficked over 5,000 children,

6:42

selling them to wealthy families. Other

6:45

children, including 19 unidentified

6:47

victims, died of extreme

6:49

abuse and neglect at the Memphis branch

6:51

of the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Others

6:55

were horrified that something like this could happen

6:57

in their own backyard. Surely

7:00

they thought, with Tan's death and

7:02

the sordid nature of her actions exposed,

7:04

society's most vulnerable would never again

7:06

be exploited on such a scale.

7:09

But they were wrong. Over

7:12

in Georgia, word was now getting around

7:15

that Dr. Hicks could arrange a discreet

7:17

way for his pregnant patients to adopt

7:20

their babies out to loving families he

7:22

had lined up himself with privacy guaranteed

7:24

and minimal fuss. He

7:27

was already performing abortions, so this

7:29

seemed to many women a legitimate

7:31

way to solve the embarrassing or

7:33

financially stressful problem of an unplanned

7:35

pregnancy. And

7:37

it was an option for those women who didn't

7:40

want a baby but were personally

7:42

opposed to abortion. Dr.

7:44

Hicks arranged temporary housing for some of

7:46

the expectant mothers for several months. He

7:49

also covered their medical costs and care during

7:51

their stay at either his farm, the New

7:54

York Hotel in Copper Hill, Tennessee, or

7:56

in his apartment in the Telephone Company

7:58

Building. When the

8:01

time came for women to deliver, Dr.

8:03

Hicks got on the phone to prospective parents,

8:06

but none of them were vetted the way they are today. After

8:09

giving the new parents only 24 hours to

8:11

get to McCaseville, Dr. Hicks sold the

8:13

newborns for anywhere from $800 to up to $10,000, $10,000 to $120,000 today.

8:22

The usual amount was said to be around $1,000, which

8:24

is about $12,600 today. According

8:28

to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, some

8:30

babies even went for as low as $100, $1,200

8:33

today. It is

8:35

not known how much, if anything, was paid

8:37

directly to the birth mothers. Parents

8:41

couldn't choose the gender, but if you could pay,

8:43

you could get yourself a baby. Dr.

8:45

Hicks arranged a falsified birth certificate,

8:48

which would be forwarded several weeks later,

8:50

naming the adoptive parents as the

8:53

birth parents, with the birth occurring

8:55

in McCaseville, no questions asked. Dr.

8:58

Hicks knew he had to minimize any paper

9:00

trail, so he didn't keep any

9:02

records of the birth mothers or families linking

9:04

them to their adoptive families out of state.

9:08

No medical records and no accurate county

9:10

court records of the birth would ensure

9:12

the entire operation was kept under wraps.

9:15

The doctor's MO also prevented any birth

9:18

mothers from changing their minds about giving

9:20

up their babies. With

9:22

no documents filed through a court to prove

9:24

the adoption had occurred, they had no

9:26

rights. Despite how

9:28

traumatizing this must have been for many of

9:31

Dr. Hicks' patients, some women

9:33

gave birth multiple times at the clinic. I'm

9:37

going to pause now for a short commercial break.

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website for details. Once I've written to you. While

11:16

many of the women knew they were giving up their

11:18

babies for adoption, once they had

11:20

delivered, it wasn't always this way.

11:23

In a situation where it's hard to see

11:25

that altruism was the sole motivator and not

11:27

money, Dr. Hicks began

11:29

taking infants from mothers who didn't want to

11:31

give up their babies at all. After

11:35

these newborns were delivered, they were whisked

11:37

away and the dazed mother was told

11:39

her child was stillborn. Meanwhile,

11:41

a couple who assumed the baby wasn't wanted

11:45

was waiting out back of the clinic to take their

11:47

new baby home. Expectant

11:49

mothers who very much wanted their children

11:51

and trusted Dr. Hicks were

11:53

lied to. Dr.

11:56

Hicks didn't fault what was happening behind closed

11:58

doors. two and

12:00

two together but didn't ask questions about what

12:02

seemed to be an open secret. Women

12:05

arrived from out of town in cabs and even

12:07

by plane. Pregnant

12:10

teens and young women from wealthy southern families

12:12

arrived in McCasill at all hours of the

12:14

day and night to see the doctor. It

12:17

wasn't unusual to see limousines parked in

12:20

the clinic's back alley. But

12:22

in December 1964, operations

12:25

at the Hicks Clinic started to wind down.

12:28

This wasn't due to the illegal adoptions,

12:30

which were really more transactions being conducted

12:32

literally out of the back door. Dr.

12:35

Hicks was instead arrested for performing an abortion

12:38

on a young woman from Cobb County. In

12:41

return for the charges being dropped, the doctor

12:43

agreed to surrender his Georgia medical license. According

12:47

to the AJC, some believe the arrest

12:49

was orchestrated by other doctors who

12:52

were jealous of how well off Dr. Hicks was

12:54

by this time. The

12:56

years passed and by the early 1990s, a

12:59

woman in Akron, Ohio named Jane

13:01

Blasio was on a mission. Since

13:04

the age of six, Jane had known she

13:06

was adopted. As a teen,

13:08

she didn't ask too many questions, but she

13:11

knew that one day she had to find

13:13

out more about where she came from and

13:15

hopefully her birth family. As

13:18

a teenager, Jane had found an embroidered

13:20

baby pillow in her attic. It

13:22

had her name and her birth date as January

13:24

15th, 1965. But

13:27

Jane had always been told her birthday was December

13:29

6th, 1964. Her birth date

13:33

was backdated to December 1964 to

13:35

avoid any repercussions for Dr. Hicks,

13:37

who had continued to practice even

13:40

though he had surrendered his medical

13:42

license. In 1988,

13:44

following the death of her mother,

13:46

Jane's father told her the story of how she

13:49

came to join the family. After

13:52

losing a child at birth and being

13:54

turned down by local adoption agencies, her

13:56

parents bought Jane's older sister Michelle from

13:58

the Hicks Clinic in 1990. in

14:00

1961. Michelle was sold for

14:02

$800 plus the cost of a new outfit for

14:04

her birth mother. Jane

14:07

followed a few years later. She

14:09

was sold for $1,000. But

14:12

with her original birth certificate falsified, there

14:14

was no way for Jane or any

14:16

other Hicks babies, as they came to

14:18

be known, to trace birth families the

14:21

usual way. Legitimate

14:23

adoption agencies turned down Jane's parents

14:25

because her mother had been previously

14:27

divorced. Then they heard about

14:29

the Hicks clinic from a relative who had

14:31

purchased a baby. To

14:34

get help with her birth records, Jane

14:36

sought the assistance of Fannin County

14:38

Probate Judge Linda Davis. Together,

14:41

they uncovered around 50 birth records between 1955

14:43

and 1964, where the registered birth of place

14:45

was McCaseville, but

14:50

the parents usual address was Akron, a 12

14:52

hour drive away. This

14:55

made no sense and suggested that

14:57

something illegal had definitely occurred. In

15:00

1960 alone, six of the 50 babies born

15:03

in Fannin County, just over 10% were

15:06

sold through the clinic to out of state families.

15:10

Judge Davis eventually uncovered records of at

15:12

least 200 infants born at the clinic

15:15

and handed out the rear of the premises

15:17

into the waiting arms of their new families. That

15:20

averages out to just over one baby a month.

15:23

They often were little more than a diaper, came

15:26

with no supplies and were still covered

15:28

in vernax, the waxy white substance found

15:31

coating the skin of newborn babies. Georgia

15:34

Superior Court records confirmed that

15:37

none of the babies had been adopted through the

15:39

appropriate legal channels. But how

15:41

did so many babies end up in Ohio

15:43

and how did their adoptive families find out

15:46

about Dr. Hicks? 49

15:49

of the 200 babies were sold to couples

15:51

from Summit County, Ohio through a

15:53

woman only known as Ruth. Ruth

15:56

had grown up in McCaseville and her family knew

15:58

Dr. Hicks. She

16:01

later moved to Ohio, where she worked

16:03

for West Akron Goodrich and bought four

16:05

babies of her own through the clinic. As

16:08

words spread around Akron that people wanting a

16:10

baby could get one from Georgia for the

16:12

right price, Ruth became the

16:14

facilitator. Prospective parents

16:17

contacted the clinic, putting their names

16:19

on a waiting list and waiting by the phone

16:21

for Dr. Hicks' call. Forty-seven

16:24

of the Summit County babies went to

16:26

homes where the father worked for the Akron Tire

16:28

Company. The remaining two newborns

16:30

were sold to a doctor in the

16:32

Ohio City of Cuyahoga Falls. As

16:36

words spread to prospective parents, couples

16:38

from 11 states, including Arkansas,

16:40

New Jersey, Oregon, Indiana,

16:43

Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania,

16:45

contacted Dr. Hicks to arrange the

16:47

purchase of a newborn. According

16:51

to the New York Times, Judge Davis

16:53

believes most of the adoptive families were

16:55

not rich but working class. Hicks

16:58

later refused to discuss her involvement in what

17:01

happened. If she was alive today,

17:03

she'd be 104, so

17:05

she's likely passed away. Given

17:09

how often the adoptions were happening in such

17:11

a small town, some later wondered

17:13

whether Dr. Hicks himself had fathered some

17:15

of the children. But there's

17:17

no evidence to suggest this occurred. And

17:20

don't forget, it was common for Dr. Hicks'

17:22

obstetrics patients to come from out of state

17:25

and interstate. Jane

17:27

Blasio made multiple trips to McCaseville and

17:30

searched for answers. She

17:32

suspected it would be difficult to get information

17:35

and was met with complete stonewalling. People

17:38

didn't want to talk, much less

17:41

entertained the thought of their beloved former

17:43

doctor's reputation being besmirched when he wasn't

17:45

even alive to defend himself. It

17:48

became clear that Dr. Hicks was a

17:50

man of contradictions who wore different masks,

17:53

depending on who Jane talked to. When

17:56

claimed, the doctor couldn't have possibly made a

17:58

profit, and then he was covering medical

18:00

and accommodation costs for his

18:03

patients and their babies. I'm

18:06

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19:14

1997, 25 years after Dr. Hicks's death, the

19:18

ugly truth was about to get extremely uncomfortable

19:20

for those who had held him in

19:23

such high esteem. News

19:25

of Jane's investigative work went public

19:27

in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Akron

19:29

Beacon Journal, and the New York Times.

19:32

Calls started flooding into Judge Davis from those who

19:34

thought they could be one of the Hicks babies.

19:38

Many of the stunned townsfolk felt that

19:40

Dr. Hicks's actions had not only

19:43

saved lives, but helped prospective parents who

19:45

did give their adoptive babies good homes,

19:48

realize a dream they thought would never come

19:50

true. Obviously, Dr. Hicks

19:52

was dead by this time. But

19:55

so were many who could have provided

19:58

answers about what went on, including former

20:00

nurse nurses, his secretary, lawyer, and much

20:02

of his family. His

20:05

surviving granddaughter, Sally Sumpyrac, claims to

20:07

not know anything specific about what

20:09

occurred and rejects the assertion that

20:11

it was a black market adoption

20:14

operation, but she's supportive of

20:16

Jane Blasio's quest to help others find their

20:18

birth families. With

20:20

no records left behind at the clinic, there was

20:22

little to go on, but this didn't

20:24

stop the genetic testing phase of Jane's work

20:26

from kicking off. Jane

20:29

became a professional investigator and expert

20:31

in black market adoption. With

20:34

the help of Judge Davis, she

20:36

established McCasill's Lost and Found, a

20:38

confidential registry and support group for

20:40

those connected to the former Higgs clinic.

20:43

She continues to dedicate much of her

20:46

life to facilitating the connection of other

20:48

Higgs babies with their birth families where

20:50

possible. In

20:53

2017, Jane identified her own

20:55

birth father. His name is

20:58

Herbert Cruz, and he had died in 2010. However,

21:01

her birth mother's identity remains elusive.

21:04

It was believed her mother could have been Kitty Goss, who

21:06

died in 1987 at age 38. Kitty

21:11

was the oldest of nine children and

21:13

lived in poverty. In

21:15

the mid-1960s, she gave up two

21:17

babies for adoption. DNA testing

21:20

involving her son, Jamie, revealed

21:22

an inconclusive link to Jane. Jane's

21:26

advocacy work is not about

21:28

seeking financial restitution, disrupting anyone's

21:30

life, or setting out to

21:32

violate anyone's privacy. It's

21:34

simply giving people back the right to connect the

21:36

dots about their medical history. A

21:40

right taken away by someone who

21:42

many believe benefited financially from the

21:44

circumstances. In

21:47

2019, a six-part documentary about the Higgs

21:49

babies and Jane's search for answers, titled

21:52

Taken at Birth, aired on TLC.

21:55

Two years later, Jane released her memoir

21:58

of the same name. Many

22:01

people in McCaseville and the adoptive parents

22:03

are still alive and staunch in their

22:05

support of Dr. Hicks. In

22:08

2014, then-Mayor Thomas Seibolt told the

22:10

AJC, quote, everyone accepted that it

22:12

happened in this town and they

22:14

just rather let it go on.

22:18

They maintain he provided a much-needed

22:20

service during a time when reproductive

22:22

rights and healthcare were largely

22:24

underground. They argued

22:27

that the babies born and sold through the clinic

22:29

went on to grow up in loving homes with

22:31

families who wanted nothing but the best for their

22:33

children. And

22:35

this last part is undoubtedly true. Many

22:38

of the women who gave birth at the clinic,

22:40

truly wanting to give their child a chance at

22:42

a better life, felt they made the right decision

22:45

at that moment in time. But

22:48

there's no getting away from the

22:50

fact that Dr. Hicks also coerced,

22:52

confused and scared vulnerable young

22:54

women who were on the fence about

22:57

adoption and to surrendering their babies. These

23:01

women may very well have wanted to make it

23:03

work despite the stigma of

23:05

being a single mother or the

23:07

financial challenges of expanding an existing

23:09

family. We can't

23:11

forget that Dr. Hicks also lied and

23:13

stole from other mothers. Mothers

23:16

who were told that their babies who were

23:18

very much alive were stillborn.

23:22

This completely contradicts the narrative by

23:25

some locals that the doctor didn't

23:27

perform any services that weren't requested

23:29

by a patient. Dr.

23:32

Hicks went to great lengths to prevent

23:34

people from ever being able to trace

23:36

their birth families for something as straightforward

23:38

as medical history. Was

23:41

he motivated by profit or charity while

23:44

hoping to break even in the fees he

23:46

charged? We'll probably never know.

23:49

The pain and trauma Dr. Hicks caused

23:51

to generations of families are undeniable

23:54

and many argue this is not negated

23:57

by the overall level of care he

23:59

provided to the providers. broader community. It's

24:02

doubtful he was the only physician in

24:04

the South risking being stripped of their

24:06

medical license for providing access to safe

24:09

abortions. But

24:11

it's unlikely these other doctors went to the

24:13

lengths he did in deceiving and exploiting

24:15

patients. Jane

24:18

Blasio continues to advocate for

24:20

open adoption and increased safeguards

24:22

for all parties involved. To

24:25

date, about 15 of the Hicks babies

24:27

have found their birth parents thanks to

24:30

DNA testing and Jane's help, along with

24:32

the other Hicks babies. Seven

24:35

birth mothers have also come forward,

24:38

but time is running out for those who are

24:40

still desperate for answers. The

24:43

DNA testing occurred in 2014 in Tennessee, and 30 people

24:45

turned up from all

24:49

across the country. ancestry.com

24:51

agreed to analyze their DNA

24:53

for free. Previous testing

24:55

was conducted in 1997, but potential

24:57

matches were limited due to technology

24:59

at the time. Jane

25:02

originally said in 1997 of Hicks'

25:05

actions, the villain is

25:07

the circumstance. Today, on her

25:10

website, it appears she takes a

25:12

stronger position by saying, Doc

25:14

Hicks was no saint, and we

25:17

recognize his dysfunction, the pain he caused

25:19

many, and have learned to bear it.

25:22

We'll probably never know how many babies were

25:25

sold by Dr. Hicks. The

25:28

complexities and complications of his

25:30

legacy continue to affect hundreds

25:32

of people today. Not

25:34

just the Hicks babies themselves, but

25:37

their adoptive families and those supporting

25:39

them in their journey toward restoration.

25:42

Indeed, many may still not

25:44

know they were ever adopted through the clinic,

25:46

if at all. And

25:49

then of course there are those

25:51

who discovered the circumstances of their

25:53

adoption, but have since passed away

25:55

without ever knowing the real story

25:57

behind taking their first breath in

25:59

McCaseville. If

26:02

you or someone you know may be connected

26:04

to the Hicks Clinic and is looking for

26:06

assistance and support in their search, you

26:08

can reach out to Jane Blasio at

26:11

janeblasio.com. Southern

26:16

Pride True Crime is hosted and produced

26:18

by me, Erica Kelly. Today's episode was

26:20

researched and written by Gemma Harris. Southern

26:24

Pride's original music is by Rob Harrison of

26:26

Gamma Radio, and the original graphic art is

26:28

by Coley Horner. Today's

26:30

episode was edited and mixed by Brenda

26:32

Schaech Snyder of Southern Gothic and Erica

26:34

Kelly. If you have any

26:36

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Y'all take care. Okay,

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round two. Name something that's

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a book club. Computer solitaire,

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