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Barbara Bisantz Raymond
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The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption Hardcover – April 12, 2007

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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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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Da Capo Press
  4. Publication date
    April 12, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 0.25 x 10 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0786719443
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0786719440
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
926 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the content informative, historical, and fascinating. They also disagree on the writing style, with some finding it well-written and easy to read, while others say it's difficult to read and complete.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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ContentStorylineWriting style
30 customers mention "Content"23 positive7 negative

Customers find the book very informative, a great historical read, and say the author did a wonderful job documenting the story of Georgia Tann. They also say the book fills in some blanks in history and helps them understand some of the challenges.

"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...." Read more

"...This book was really in-depth and flowed easily. It will keep you up at night." Read more

"...Kudos to this writer for bringing this out. Very informative." Read more

"...This woman was warped,abusive, deceitful, certainly a sociopath if not a psychopath, but as a side-effect of her megalomania adoption became..." Read more

27 customers mention "Storyline"22 positive5 negative

Customers find the storyline fascinating, informative, and disturbing. They also describe the book as an important chapter of social history and an excellent recollection of a horrible time in our so-called Democratic Society.

"What a fascinating story...." Read more

"Very interesting story however I feel it could be better written, was difficult to read...." Read more

"Very interesting account of a horrible thing that happened in the 40s and 50s in middle America - something that has affected and actually improved..." Read more

"...to say, though, that Barbara did, and the result is a fascinating but sickening account of how adoption got to where it is today...." Read more

22 customers mention "Writing style"13 positive9 negative

Customers are mixed about the writing style. Some find it very well written and interesting, while others say it's difficult to read, confusing, and hard to follow. They also mention that the typos and misspellings in the Kindle edition are insulting.

"...The writing was generally clear and informative." Read more

"...interesting story however I feel it could be better written, was difficult to read...." Read more

"Well written if a little long winded at times. I never knew this ugly side of adoption and it's frightening...." Read more

"...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..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good information
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
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.
8 people found this helpful
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Lisa K.
4.0 out of 5 stars Struggling to believe this happened! True story.
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
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.
10 people found this helpful
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bookreader
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
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.
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BookLuvinBlond
5.0 out of 5 stars This ... female... is very FORTUNATE she went to Hell before I was born!
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
Verified Purchase
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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Betsy Robertson
4.0 out of 5 stars Georgia Tann, child thief, abuser, trafficker - a true story
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2017
Verified Purchase
Very interesting account of a horrible thing that happened in the 40s and 50s in middle America - something that has affected and actually improved America's approach to adoption. This woman was warped,abusive, deceitful, certainly a sociopath if not a psychopath, but as a side-effect of her megalomania adoption became acceptable and much more prevalent than it was before she entered the business of finding homes for children.

She stole children from loving homes, stole them from the maternity wards of hospitals. She starved and abused them verbally, physically and sexually, and she had her hand on most of the politicians who could have hurt her.

The book was fascinating.
18 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
Verified Purchase
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.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Real true history of adoption
Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
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
Verified Purchase
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
Verified Purchase
Horrifically interesting
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