Black Market
The black market is known for selling items illegally. The biggest known black market scandal involved a health care professional named Ruby Hightower. Under the pretense of a legitimate business called the Hightower Health Home located in Texarkana, she was to be caring for the elderly. She was also involved in the illegal sell of babies during the 1950’s. The going rate for a health infant was $500 in cash.
It is believed that Ruby Hightower offered young women a safe place to stay while they had their baby. During that time, it was not socially accepted for unwed girls to be pregnant. Some were sent to Hightower by their parents. Others were kicked out of their homes and came to her because they had no place to go. Women who had their baby at Hightower Health Home say they were treated respectfully there and thought Hightower was going to find their child a good set of parents to adopt them.
While the people who purchased these babies did indeed want to raise a child, they were either unable to adopt one legally or were tired of waiting for it to happen. Many of the women were told their child had gone to a good home, and consented to the adoption. Other girls who were more hesitant were informed that the baby had died during birth.
It is now known that many of those babies were alive and sold. This was discovered when young women came forward to say they were sure their baby was born alive, but they were told it was dead at birth. A court order was issued to exhume the babies, and all of the caskets were found to be empty.
However, Hightower contended until her death that she did nothing wrong. She provided these young girls with an opportunity to return to their life without scandal. She also believed she did what was right for society. She felt there was nothing wrong with giving a baby to a couple who would love it and be able to provide for it rather than allowing the child to live a life of poverty.
Many adopted children continue to search for their birth origin, and have found the trail to lead to Ruby Hightower. She is believed to be responsible for thousands of black market dealings, even with high profile officials who were looking to have children.
