Question: What is the real name of the “Roe Baby,” whom Norma McCorvey (a.k.a. “Jane Roe”) sought to abort?
Answer: Shelley Lynn Thornton. Born in Dallas in 1970, she was adopted at just three days old by then-engaged Texas residents Ruth Schmidt and Billy Thornton. In 1989, reporters for the National Enquirer contacted Thornton and revealed the identity of her birth mother. It was not until 2021, however, that Thornton’s identity as the “Roe Baby” was publicly revealed by a report in The Atlantic.
