Judy Christie

Those who were engrossed by Lisa Wingate's bestseller, "Before We Were Yours,” might also be interested in "Before and After," a work of non-fiction by Judy Christie and Ms. Wingate. This book documents what happened to some of the adoptees placed by Georgia Tann, who operated a "black-market baby business" from 1924 to 1950 "without scrutiny or interference." Tann's Memphis-based Tennessee Children's Home Society (TCHS) was a way-station for thousands of children who, for a fee, were handed over to prospective buyers in Tennessee, New York, California, and elsewhere. Among her other misdeeds, Tann falsified records, bribed judges and health-care workers, and lied both to birth parents and the adopting couples about significant facts that might otherwise have prevented these transactions from taking place.

Georgia Tann committed monstrous crimes. Although some desperate women gave away their newborns and toddlers voluntarily, Tann and her go-betweens routinely kidnapped infants and children; told unsuspecting new mothers that their babies had died, when they were actually alive and subsequently snatched and sold; and persuaded naïve parents to sign papers surrendering their child or children to the TCHS. The havoc caused by Tann--who passed away before she could be brought to justice--was incalculable. She separated biological mothers and fathers from their children, and siblings from their brothers and sisters. Tennessee law prevented adoptees who wanted information about their roots from finding out what happened until decades had passed.

In "Before and After," Christie explores the impact that Wingate's novel, "Before We Were Yours" had on its readers. In addition, she recounts the reminiscences of men and women whom Tann treated as commodities, and the belated reunions (some sad, many joyful) that took place after much time had passed. This is a wrenching and depressing account of corruption, greed, deceit, and malevolence. At times, the narrative is a bit disjointed, since it is told from so many perspectives, and repeatedly goes back and forth in time. There are numerous names to keep track of and countless dispiriting first-person descriptions of pain and suffering. Although some of Tann's victims--tragically, hundreds of youngsters are believed to have died from illness and neglect while in "unregulated, often squalid, holding facilities"—did go on to have productive and fulfilling lives, few escaped the feeling that something was amiss (especially when their parents neglected to reveal that they were adopted). All wonder, "Why didn't anyone stop it?"
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Lisa Wingate’s “Before We Were Yours” is a fictional account of Georgia Tann and her illegally obtaining kids and babies to illegally adopt out. With the popularity of that book, she and Judy Christie decided to reach out to many of those “kids” (now adults, of course) to hear their stories and to set up a reunion.

I listened to the audio and that may have been my downfall. Because there were multiple individual stories to this one, it was more similar to a book of essays or short stories, so (because – audio) when I missed parts, it was hard to “catch up” on what I’d missed before we moved on to the next story. It did seem like many of the adopted kids had good lives, in the end.

There was some talk at the end about one of the reunion attendees not having a great home life post-adoption and that she was heartened to find others out there with a similar story – that is, she wasn’t alone in that. But if those stories were told in this book, I missed them. The entire story (Georgia Tann) is sad, but I suspect I might have liked this more if I’d actually read it. In any case, I’m still rating it ok.… (more)

If you have read the fictional book Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, this is the non-fiction story of the actual children who came from the Tennessee Home for Children in Memphis. The authors arranged a reunion for adoptees who were placed in the home in the 1930's and 1940's. Most of the adopted children were age 70 or above and were still looking for news of parents or siblings. Most of them were adopted as infants, but a few remember being in the Tennessee Home and tell the story of being separated from their families. Their stories are hopeful and heartbreaking, but most leave the reunion knowing they are not alone and others have the same feelings as they do.… (more)