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A Child of My Own on Netflix tells the story of a woman who faked a pregnancy before kidnapping a newborn.
A Child of My Own is available to watch on Netflix. (Image: NETFLIX)
Everything to know about the true story behind A Child of My Own on Netflix
- Netflix has finally released A Child of My Own which follows how a Mexican woman’s desperate desire to become a mother leads to a baby’s abduction. The one-off docu-drama is based on a true story with the real-life events taking place 17 years ago.
- The film tells the story of Eleonor Alejandra Marin Mendoza who suffered multiple miscarriages since getting married when she was just 17-years-old. She continued to feel looming pressure from her family and society to have a child and when she had another miscarriage at 26, Alejandra made the decision to fake the pregnancy to full-term.
- It was then in June 2009 that she kidnapped a newborn girl from Hospital General de Mexico where she worked as an administrator. CCTV footage shows her walking out of the hospital with the baby carried in a large gift bag. Reflecting on her actions in the trailer, Alejandra said: “What did I do wrong? Breaking the law. Deceiving. Hurting. I think my desire to be a mum was to please others.”
- She and her husband Arturo, who was later acquitted of any wrongdoing, were found at a hotel in Mexico City just a few hours later. The baby was safely returned to her mother and the pair were arrested at the scene.
- Alejandra was sentenced to 13 years in prison for her actions and released in 2023. Netflix‘s A Child of My Own was previously told in Randall Fuquay’s book, A Child to Call My Own. The Netflix true crime doc has been brought to life by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Maite Alberdi.
READ THE FULL STORY: ‘I faked a pregnancy to please my family’ desperate woman admits in Netflix doc
