[quote]So the family made plans to conceal the pregnancy on their own. First, Young would finish shooting two additional films, making public appearances throughout. On April 21, she was part of the wedding party for Hollywood director Tay Garnett; on May 6, she hosted a tea for the press in her backyard. Then, Young would publicly become very exhausted. A profile published in Movie Classic in June called her “the most tired little person in Hollywood” after months of working 18-hour days. Still, Young was careful to appear in public just enough so that no one could misconstrue her fatigue for pregnancy. Ed Sullivan, then a society columnist, detailed a whirlwind Manhattan weekend, and when Young and her mother, Gladys, set sail for Europe on June 29, that, too, was featured in the papers — as were reports of her active social calendar while abroad, hosted by prominent expats and countesses.
[quote]Back in Los Angeles, Young hid in a cottage located in a newly developed corner of Venice, far from the Hollywood crowd. Best friend Josie Wayne (wife to John) came to visit, throwing her arms around Young but never acknowledging the pregnancy — nor did Tracy, who stopped by while Young was swaddled in comforters and told her he loved her. Young eventually found herself so stir-crazy that her family would drive her, late at night, to culs-de-sac, just so she could walk about, and drive-in movies, where she’d be kept from sight.
[quote]As the birth approached, the biggest concern was the milkman. Namely, whether or not he’d hear Young’s screams as she went into labor. Young’s mother and sisters worked together to soundproof the house, lining the windows with blankets and towels; when, on Nov. 6, 1935, her screams started, Dr. Halloron chloroformed her. A backup doctor and nurse, unaware of the identity of the woman giving birth in secret, idled in a car down the street while Young went into labor on her sister Sally’s massage table.
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[quote]In the weeks to come, Young stayed in the Venice house with Judy and a nurse, Frenchie, who helped care for the baby...
[quote]At first, Judy stayed in the Venice house with Frenchie, and Young visited when possible. When Frenchie approached the housekeeper with an offer to blackmail Loretta, the housekeeper alerted the family, launching them into high gear: Within days, they’d placed Judy in a Catholic orphanage until Loretta could feasibly adopt her without scandal.
[quote]That time came on June 10, 1937, when Young announced the adoption of two young girls via Louella Parsons' gossip column. Parsons was well-versed in the ways of innuendo: “Loretta Young, film star, admitted to me today she is a mother — by adoption.” She’d be adopting an older girl, age 4, and younger one, just 23 and a half months. “There is just one thing I can’t tell you,” Young told Parsons, “and that is where I got the children, and I want to forget as soon as possible that they are not mine.”
[quote]Nearly a month later, Young announced that a relative of the older girl had surfaced to claim her back — leaving Young with a single adopted baby girl, birthdate strategically altered, by the name of Judy.
