Georgia Tann (1891-1950) was an American child trafficker who, through the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, operated an extensive black-market baby ring from the 1920s to 1950. Though her methods were criminal and involved kidnapping children from poor families to sell to wealthy ones, her practices inadvertently shaped key aspects of the modern adoption system.
Sealed Records: Tann championed the practice of closed adoptions with sealed records to hide the children’s true origins and prevent birth parents or adoptive parents from challenging her sales. This became a standard practice in the U.S. for decades.
Agency Adoptions: Before Tann, adoptions were rare, often arranged informally or through orphan trains. Tann professionalized the process through an agency model, which increased the rate of adoptions but also allowed her scheme to thrive due to a lack of oversight.
Focus on the “Best” Home: She promoted the idea that children should be taken from low-income families and placed with what she called “people of the higher type,” which removed much of the social stigma previously associated with adoption in certain circles.
The exposure of her crimes in 1950 led to widespread adoption reforms and stronger legal oversight in the United States to protect children and parents.
She would literally drive her limo through poor neighborhoods, attracting the kids to her car, lure them into the car with bribes, then just drive off, and sell them to someone.
While her crimes were discovered and investigated, she died of cancer before ever facing trial. It is estimated that she stole over 5000 children, of which at least 19 died of abuse or murder.
Despite several states vowing to investigate the adoptions, no children were ever restored to their original families.
Stealing poor children was common back then:
Georgia Tann (1891-1950) was an American child trafficker who, through the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, operated an extensive black-market baby ring from the 1920s to 1950. Though her methods were criminal and involved kidnapping children from poor families to sell to wealthy ones, her practices inadvertently shaped key aspects of the modern adoption system.
Sealed Records: Tann championed the practice of closed adoptions with sealed records to hide the children’s true origins and prevent birth parents or adoptive parents from challenging her sales. This became a standard practice in the U.S. for decades.
Agency Adoptions: Before Tann, adoptions were rare, often arranged informally or through orphan trains. Tann professionalized the process through an agency model, which increased the rate of adoptions but also allowed her scheme to thrive due to a lack of oversight.
Focus on the “Best” Home: She promoted the idea that children should be taken from low-income families and placed with what she called “people of the higher type,” which removed much of the social stigma previously associated with adoption in certain circles.
The exposure of her crimes in 1950 led to widespread adoption reforms and stronger legal oversight in the United States to protect children and parents.
She would literally drive her limo through poor neighborhoods, attracting the kids to her car, lure them into the car with bribes, then just drive off, and sell them to someone.
While her crimes were discovered and investigated, she died of cancer before ever facing trial. It is estimated that she stole over 5000 children, of which at least 19 died of abuse or murder.
Despite several states vowing to investigate the adoptions, no children were ever restored to their original families.