Chicago Woman Fakes Pregnancy of Child With Fatal Illness
As someone who actually did give birth to a child with a terminal illness (not knowing while I was pregnant that my then-husband and I were carriers for the disease), and then aborted two subsequent pregnancies in which the fetuses had the same condition (Tay-Sachs), I am particularly incensed by what this woman did:
The unmarried mother’s story about giving birth to a child diagnosed as terminally ill in the womb hit a major nerve on the Internet.
Every night for the last two months, thousands of abortion opponents across the nation logged on to a blog run by the suburban Chicago woman who identified herself only as “B” or “April’s Mom.”
People said they prayed that God would save her pregnancy. They e-mailed her photos of their children dressed in pink, bought campaign T-shirts, shared tales of personal heartache and redemption, and sent letters and gifts to an Oak Lawn P.O. box in support.
As more and more people were drawn to her compelling tale, eager advertisers were lining up. And established parenting Web sites that oppose abortion were promoting her blog — which included biblical quotes, anti-abortion messages and a soundtrack of inspirational Christian pop songs.
By Sunday night, when “April’s Mom” claimed to have given birth to her “miracle baby” — blogging that April Rose had survived a home birth only to die hours later — her Web site had nearly a million hits.
There was only one problem with the unfolding tragedy: None of it was true.
Not the pregnancy, and not the photos posted on the blog of the supposed mother and Baby April Rose, swaddled in white blankets. The baby was actually a lifelike doll, which immediately raised the suspicion of loyal blog-followers.
“I have that exact doll in my house,” said Elizabeth Russell, a dollmaker from Buffalo who had been following the blog. “As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was a scam.”
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7 Responses to “Chicago Woman Fakes Pregnancy of Child With Fatal Illness”
dear Kathy. I see your point. Personally.
I am sorry this person played this out; it has hurt many people who poured much innocent love and hope in her direction.
The Chicago Trib article says the woman is a social worker. If that is so, and of any consolation to the many persons whose hearts she exploited, I feel pretty certain that by Monday there will be formal grievances filed against her license in the state, and likely, after a hearing, her license will be revoked.
I spent 13 years as a board member and then Chair of the Colo State Grievance Board, and we heard some of the most egregious cases of mental health people intruding on, harming others… all the way from psychologists to social workers, from alcohol counselors to marriage and family counselors and more… This tiny less than 1% of the professions does indeed cause damage.
The woman in the story will likely be ordered by the State board to have a mental competency exam. It sounds unlikely she will be able to pass that. She will likely not be allowed to practice anymore, until or unless, there are dramatic changes made to the kind of work she does, and most especially to re-establishing a conscience and other markers of what we call sound mind.
There will then be deliberation not only about her license, but what to do to help her, for she appears to be sick, very much so.
The general public may not realize that she, aside from publicity now, and some demented editor offering her a book deal for 10k for her 'story,' her choice of actions have directly affected her livlihood, and her job is almost guaranteed to be terminated leaving her without income.
On another note entirely, the sociometry of the entire situation of who runs toward those who seem to hold out similar values, even when those values are mocked-up and ingenuine—that seems like a book topic that is ripe for our times.
We lost our firstborn grandson, a beautiful beautful boy, Kathy. I know the ache seems eternal. I send honey over your heart.
dr.e
Thank you for the kind words, archangel. It was a long time ago, so the pain has mellowed considerably. Having a healthy 19-year-old daughter helps a lot.
My condolences to you as well for the loss of your grandson. How heartbreaking that must have been.
Kathy and dr. e,
My condolences for your losses. It's amazing that people can survive such pain. Once we do survive blessings are given to us.
I was feeling compassionate towards this young woman, especially when she said that things got out of hand and she did not know how to stop it. I could understand how otherwise well-meaning and good people may not have the strength to stop a story that takes off on its own.
But that compassion I had left when I read that she was actually out there actively promoting her story, with people sending her gifts, including money. It wasn't something that just got out of hand that she did not know how to stop. This was a scam she perpetrated and encouraged.
As far as the abortion opponents who were involved and supported her…. I'm glad they have the compassion to support strangers who make tough decisions. However where are these compassionate abortion opponents and their support for all those women who DO make an impossible decision to abort the fetus, most if not all of whom will probably live with guilt the rest of their lives? The women who do make such impossible decisions deserve every bit of compassion too.
It's easy to have compassion for someone who would act as you would. It's more complicated to see the pain other people have when you disagree with them. But ultimately it's that woman's choice and one should never dictate how someone else should act based on what might be best for oneself.
As far as this woman.. I hope she gets the treatment she needs and takes up writing. It seems she has a real talent and I wish her well in her fictional pursuits. Or she can become a politician.
DDear SB: Very wise: “It's easy to have compassion for someone who would act as you would. It's more complicated to see the pain other people have when you disagree with them. …”
dr.e
As someone who actually did give birth to a child with a terminal illness (not knowing while I was pregnant that my then-husband and I were carriers for the disease), and then aborted two subsequent pregnancies in which the fetuses had the same condition (Tay-Sachs), I am particularly incensed by what this woman did:
The unmarried mother’s story about giving birth to a child diagnosed as terminally ill in the womb hit a major nerve on the Internet.
Every night for the last two months, thousands of abortion opponents across the nation logged on to a blog run by the suburban Chicago woman who identified herself only as “B” or “April’s Mom.”
People said they prayed that God would save her pregnancy. They e-mailed her photos of their children dressed in pink, bought campaign T-shirts, shared tales of personal heartache and redemption, and sent letters and gifts to an Oak Lawn P.O. box in support.
Very well said SB.She can become a politician.She has all the attributes(How to lie, how to spread romours etc) that a politician should have.