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The baby farms of the late 1800s and early 1900s were filled with numerous issues. From filth to inadequate air circulation, countless infants died under the care of those who operated baby care services for unwanted children and mothers without the means to care for them. Historical newspaper articles recount the disturbing discoveries of infant bodies being unearthed from yards. The era was a horrific one for both babies and their parents. Infants could be killed, sold, or even held for ransom by these farms. In some instances, mothers never had the chance to find their babies. Happy reunions were rare.
10. London’s Unregulated Baby Farms
In 1874, an Australian newspaper highlighted the issues of baby farms in London. The primary concern raised in the article wasn’t that these baby farms were profit-driven or run like businesses instead of places of care, but rather that they were entirely unregulated. Although London supposedly had hundreds of small baby farms, only three of them were officially registered as businesses. Essentially, no one was overseeing what was happening inside these private homes that operated baby farms for working mothers and wealthy men who had their mistresses’ babies taken care of.
With no supervision, countless atrocities were committed against defenseless babies, and these were rarely uncovered unless a mother personally reported her findings or suspicions to the authorities. However, even then, if the woman was considered of questionable character, the likelihood of the police believing her was minimal.
9. Extortion by Chicago Doctors
Chicago has long been notorious for its corruption, and baby farms were no exception. What set Chicago apart, however, was that the city’s baby farms were primarily run as extortion businesses by doctors. Reports indicate that many of the prominent figures involved in the baby farm operations were medical professionals, and these farms were often located outside city limits to avoid police attention.
The daughters of affluent families were just as much victims as the babies. Unmarried young women were sent to these baby farms to give birth to their illegitimate children. Once born, the babies were kept at the farms, and the young women’s families were forced to pay hefty fees for their care. If the girls or their families threatened to involve the authorities, the doctors would blackmail them with the threat of exposing the illicit birth, which would ruin the young woman's chances of marriage.
8. Death From Disease and Illness in Perth
In 1907, a baby farm and its owner, Mrs. Mitchell, came under legal investigation. Reports revealed that the Perth baby farm had taken in 87 infants, 83 of whom tragically died within its walls. Two of the babies passed away in a hospital, and one died shortly after her mother took her back. Mitchell defended herself, claiming that she only accepted sick children.
A doctor who had been hired by Mitchell confirmed that, over the years, he had been called to observe her intake of sick children. The babies were afflicted with ailments ranging from diarrhea to vomiting, whooping cough, and bronchitis. He advised her to stop accepting sick children and to ensure the infants received proper nutrition. Mitchell ignored both recommendations. The court ruled that she had intentionally neglected the children's care, leading many to believe that Mrs. Mitchell may have been a serial killer.
One witness testified during Mitchell's trial, recalling that when his wife was battling cancer, he and his wife had considered placing their daughter in Mitchell's care. Mitchell assured them that the child would contract the same illness as the mother. Instead of leaving his child with Mitchell, he chose to send the baby to his own mother. While his wife was hospitalized, Mrs. Mitchell later returned, offering to take the child off his hands.
[ . . . ] One morning, Mrs. Mitchell walked into his shop and claimed that the witness’s child would always be a burden and would keep him poor. She added that the child shared the same flaws as its mother. Mrs. Mitchell suggested that if he paid her L10 and 10s weekly, she would take care of the child for him. She promised to give it some special medicine and stick a hatpin in its heart.
The father, understandably furious, demanded that Mrs. Mitchell never speak his name again.
7. Baby Starved in Minnesota
A shocking tale emerged from Minnesota about a baby who was nearly starved to death. The young single mother, with no one else to rely on, had entrusted her child to a baby farm. She paid $2.50 each week—quite a sum in 1906—for her infant's care. Initially, the mother visited her son regularly, but when she fell ill, she was forced to stay away while recovering.
Once the mother regained her health, she returned to the baby farm, only to discover her son in a critical state of malnutrition. His baby fat had vanished, and his skin was clinging to his bones. The mother quickly removed him from the farm and rushed him to the hospital. In the two months under the farm keeper’s care, her son had gone from thriving to emaciated, but the doctors and nurses were optimistic that the baby could recover.
An investigation was launched, and a worker visited the farm to assess the situation. The conditions were found to be appalling. The babies were dirty and neglected, the bedding was stained, and it was reported that the caretaker was feeding the infants spoiled milk.
6. Poisoning in London
The notorious Finchley Baby Farm was operated by two women under the false pretense that they would care for young mothers until they gave birth and then place their babies in suitable homes. Annie Walters, a nurse, and Amelia Sach, a midwife, were the women behind this disreputable institution, where mothers paid for the promise of finding good homes for their unwanted children.
In 1903, the two fraudsters were exposed when one of the babies they had taken in was found dead in Walters’s care. The infant had been poisoned with chlorodyne. Following their trial, both women were hanged for the child’s murder, despite their claims of innocence. It is believed that they may have killed over a dozen babies, though many of the bodies were never recovered. The infants placed in their care vanished without a trace, never to be seen again.
5. Burned Alive In Iowa
Only those with the most malicious intentions could harm an innocent child, and in Iowa in 1907, two women committed some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Mrs. Fred West, who ran a baby farm, and Miss Anna Beattle, a maid nurse, were accused of murdering 'Baby Jim.'
The situation reached its breaking point when a former nurse from the baby farm testified in court. She revealed that, "Mrs. West asked me to administer laudanum to the baby and handed me the poison bottle. I refused, but Mrs. West insisted I was being foolish, claiming it was the standard procedure whenever babies were causing trouble. They would put them out of their misery as quickly as possible." The former nurse also shared, "There have been instances where babies were burned alive at the West baby farm before they were dead and thrown into the furnace to silence their helpless cries."
Some babies who could be sold were handed over to whoever had the money. Others were simply given away. Reports also mentioned that: "Inmates of disorderly houses [ . . ] purchased the babies, treating them like a pet, like a poodle to be played with." The women preferred the girl babies. Any babies that couldn’t be sold were killed.
4. Buried Beneath the Floors in Russia
Russia had its own share of baby farms, where mothers, often ashamed of having illegitimate children, would secretly care for their babies. A report from 1888 reveals some chilling details about a discovery at one of Russia's baby farms. A middle-aged woman, who owned property, made a living by running the baby farm. Over the years, she had taken in many illegitimate children. The babies would arrive, and according to neighbors, they would eventually disappear.
Neighbors initially believed the babies were simply taken back by their parents, but suspicions grew when a young girl vanished without a trace. This time, the disappearance caught the neighbors' attention. The police were alerted, and upon investigation, they found her body buried under the floor. Further searches uncovered even more dead babies hidden inside the floors. The woman was arrested on charges of murder and taken away.
3. $5 Babies in Philadelphia
For a period, women in Philadelphia were buying cheap babies as part of a strange practice. The scheme involved a young woman purchasing a baby and passing it off as her own in order to trick a man into marrying her by claiming he was the father. It was a despicable deception, one that might have gone undetected for much longer if not for the discovery of one of these purchased babies dead.
According to a 1911 report, a baby farm in Philadelphia would sell unwanted babies for as little as $5 each, with no questions asked. A couple, eager to marry but facing opposition from the man's family, decided to buy a baby from the farm. Their plan was to present the baby as their own to win over his parents, believing it was their only hope to secure their approval.
Sadly, the infant became ill almost immediately. The young woman, unsure of how to care for it, found the baby dead the next morning. She later recounted, "When she found it dead in the morning, she says she walked the streets for hours carrying the body, and finally abandoned it in an alley." The child's lifeless body was eventually found where she had left it, partially clothed and drenched from the rain.
2. Abandoned in the Filth of Sydney
Numerous newspaper reports from Australia's grim history tell of the horrors of baby farms. One such report, published in the autumn of 1890, revealed the discovery of another baby farm in Sydney: 'A house with four filthy, decaying rooms was rented several years ago by a woman, and according to her own admission, 50 infants passed through her care each year—likely abandoned by disgraced mothers and left to die.'
The article continues, detailing how this particular baby farm in Sydney was in an utterly deplorable state, unfit for the care of so many infants. An inspector described the scene:
In the cellar, which served as the kitchen, I found the same number of babies as during my previous visit. In one corner, three small children lay in long clothes. Nearby, in a box about 18 inches by 2 feet, another baby rested, while two more slept in a second box. There was no proper bedding. Upstairs, I found two more babies lying on a bed.
While many people outside of Australia view Sydney as a pristine paradise, it was once one of the most unbearable places to live, especially for an unwed mother. With nowhere to turn, these mothers had little choice but to place their babies in care while they worked to afford the cost of looking after them. The article compared Sydney to other troubled cities like London and Chicago, noting that even these were not as bad as the situation in Sydney.
If those who champion the investigation of London's crime scene and the supposed purity of Sydney could comprehend the shocking level of crime in the nation's older metropolitan city, they would soon realize that, given Sydney's relatively young age and smaller population, it is one of the most vice-ridden capitals in the world.
1. The Practice of Baby Hoarding in Chicago
By 1912, baby farming had become a surprisingly profitable industry in Chicago, with the practice booming across the city. A woman only needed a roof over her head to enter the business. These women would charge between $3 to $7 per week for each child, a significant amount considering that working women were earning only about $6 per week in factories and department stores.
While the potential for profit was a major incentive for women entering the baby farming industry, some were motivated by their love for babies. However, much like hoarders who collect cats, these women ended up accumulating babies and small children without providing the proper care. In some cases, homes housed eight to ten babies, often with only one woman responsible for them.
A Chicago reporter decided to investigate some of the city's baby farms. What he uncovered was enough to disturb even the toughest individuals. Posing as a father in search of a caretaker for his one-year-old child, he demanded that the proprietress show him the attic where his fictitious child would be kept:
I staggered up the attic stairs behind the woman, who would occasionally get stuck in the narrow corridor and pause to catch her breath. Eventually, we reached the top. It was only a small, cramped room. I could only stand upright in the center. In a dark corner of the room, on a bed, lay eight babies, half-dressed, crying and writhing in filth. Empty milk bottles and soiled clothes were scattered across the floor. The single window in the attic was nailed shut. I quickly descended.
The reporter also examined the backyard, which was strewn with metal cans and scrap metal. This was where the children were allowed to play, if they were permitted outside at all.
The reporter then visited a second baby farm, where he found conditions that were even more troubling:
On the kitchen floor, four babies were sprawled out [ . . . ] On the kitchen table, three baskets held wailing infants. In every corner, on chairs, next to the stove, and even hanging like cocoons, baskets cradled babies sleeping on pillows that had become stained brown from dirt and neglect.
There were nine babies in the kitchen alone. In the room next door, even more frail infants cried from their cribs, go-carts, and baskets. In the front room, more babies wept. One baby, covered by a mosquito net, lay apart from the others, her eyes swollen and sore.
