Georgia Tann: the baby seller who corrupted adoption

For adoptees in the USA, though, the picture is different. In the majority of states they still have no access to their original birth certificates, effectively denying them a right to the first chapter of their life histories. Raymond observes, “If knowledge of the long-buried story of Georgia Tann teaches us anything, it is the importance of ridding adoption of lies and secrets”.

The story of Georgia Tann is in itself startling and thought-provoking, and would be ideal for those book clubs that include non-fiction in their lists. The issues it raises are also relevant to Australia, because we too have inherited the effects of a closed system of adoption; though here, in most cases, individuals are able to access their original records. Just about everyone has either been affected by adoption or knows someone who has.

Barbara Raymond offers more than a wide-eyed, jaw-dropping account of a monster dressed up as a saint; she gives us a clearly-focused, level-headed, compassionate portrayal of the multiple injustices wrought by a combination of common greed, political corruption, tainted science, systemic neglect and just plain snobbishness.

Raymond traces Georgia Tann’s victims - those who had their children stolen from them and those who were emotionally and physically abused by her - and gives them a voice. As they tell the truth about what happened, we recover an inkling that there might be a moral centre to the universe after all, despite the monstrous efforts of those, like Georgia Tann, who lay waste to all that is good in order to gratify their own lusts for money and power.

The Baby Thief unmasks personal and social evils and is unafraid to raise the question of our complicity in them. In its obvious commitment to ensure that we hear the voices of the victims of a great injustice, it taps into wellsprings of kindness, openness and compassion that give us hope for the future.