A woman who found out her parents purchased her as a child is searching for her biological mother and father.
At just six years old, Jane Blasio‘s parents sat her down and informed her that she was adopted, PEOPLE reports. “We have something to tell you, and it may be hard for you to understand,” he said to Blasio and her sister Michelle, who was 11 at the time. Their mother continued: “You two were adopted. Do you know what that means?”
From that point on, Blasio became adamant about finding her biological parents. “It’s like that moment was burned into me,” the now 56-year-old said of the 1971 incident. After researching her background for decades, she learned that her birth parents were a part of a corrupt abortion doctor’s baby-selling operation. The Georgia-based doctor, Thomas Hicks, sold children between the 1950s and the 1960s.
While trying to find answers for herself, Blasio also tracked down the birth parents of the people who also were illegally sold and given to strangers, PEOPLE reports. The stolen babies, who are now adults, were known as “Hicks babies.”
“My father knew [that Hicks’ actions were illegal], but my mother just wanted a baby and didn’t want to know anything, so my dad was going to do whatever would make her happy,” says Blasio. The woman has documented her journey in her new memoir, Taken At Birth.
When Blasio’s parents bought her, their names were listed illegally as Jim and Joan. Before Joan passed away, she made Jim promise that he’d tell Blasio everything. “My parents bought a child in a way that gave me no option but to search and possibly find no answers,” she says. “That’s not love; that’s desperation.” It appears Blasio has yet to find her parents.
