Taken at Birth

I enjoy a good memoir, and Taken at Birth was just that. Jane Blasio's true story of learning her parents bought her from a shady doctor in small-town Georgia is gripping, intense, and hard to put down once you get started.

I was adopted as an infant, so I can relate, just a little, to some of Jane's experience. My adoption went through an agency – I wasn't a black market baby. My parents told me I was adopted as soon as I was old enough to understand. I don't remember a time I didn't know I was adopted, and very much wanted, and very much loved. But I can empathize with Jane's desire to know her roots, her people.

Dr. Hicks was a man who coerced young women into giving up their babies, or worse yet, aborted their babies against their will. A man who profited off of the heartache of couples unable to have children of their own. And yet, his family did good for the community of McCaysville, Georgia, to the point that a lot of people weren't happy with Jane coming around, poking into things they considered none of her business.

But Jane persevered, and found not only the truth of her family, but also helped other birth mothers and “Hicks babies,” as they became known, find each other, or at least find closure. Her story is well worth the read.