Episode 83: Baby Merchant Georgia Tann, part one -- For Profit Kidnapping

Histories And Mysteries

Adoption has always existed as a human practice, but our modern understanding of adoption, where a child is taken in by complete strangers who legally incorporate that child as a member of the family, is relatively new, originating in the 20th century. One woman did more than any other to normalize the practice: social worker Georgia Tann, the beloved head of the Tennessee Children's Home Society. It was only later that questions would be asked as to how she acquired these children and the fate of many who wound up in her care.