Show U 5 bares black market in babies maud If tells of doom boom lit in illicit traffic washington existence of a nourishing flourishing black market in babies with some baby brokers selling illegitimate infants to eager foster parents for as much as 2000 was disclosed by maud consultant on social services to the childrens bureau says the united press she ascribed the booming illicit traffic in infants to a combination of factors including a sharp rise rise in illegitimacy lack of adequate laws to deal with unscrupulous baby brokers and the fact that the supply of babies available for adoption is insufficient to meet demands of would be foster parents rate of illegitimacy has more than doubled in the last two years she said estimating that 1 in every 12 births today is illegitimate compared with only 4 in every in 1942 most of the unwed mothers are between 19 and 24 many are younger she attributed the increase to war stresses miss said that less than half the states have laws to prosecute unscrupulous baby brokers operating as commercial adoption agencies and that the traffic in infants cannot be stopped until the relinquishment of babies by mothers is made a matter of court record treated confidentially it is a common practice throughout the country tor for unwed mothers to sign away the rights to their babies on a slip of paper often before the birth or while still in the hospital she said in states where baby brokers have not been outlawed she said operators approach expectant mothers offering to pay expenses in return for the babies who are sold at a lucrative profit miss est estimated mated that less than half the babies adopted are placed by professional childrens agencies and that most are handled by brokers for a profit |