Blogger Fakes Baby Death
Many came to know Beccah Beushausen as a 26-year-old Chicagoan with a truly heartbreaking story. On her blog, Little One April, Beccah told the story of a doomed pregnancy. April, her unborn daughter, had been diagnosed with holoprosencephaly, a disease that would prevent her brain from properly developing, cause her face to be deformed and ultimately result in her early death. Beccah gathered thousands of readers as her audience of supporters checked in regularly to discover the fate of her child. Pro-life advocates championed her story of continued pregnancy in the face of grim reality. Beccah opened a post office box for donations just in case April had a chance. On June 7th Beccah reported the birth and subsequent death of her daughter April. The blog hit nearly a million views as sympathetic people expressed their sorrow. News doesn’t get much sadder.
Only, it never happened. Beccah made it all up.
It all unraveled after Beccah posted a picture of her briefly living daughter. A reader realized the baby in the picture was not a baby at all, but one of those creepy Reborn dolls. Hey, rookie mistake.
Sufficed to say, people are pissed, especially those who have experienced real child loss. To her end, Beccah’s blog is now an apology:
“In my life I’ve had good days and I have also dealt with a lot of pain, including the sorrow over the loss of life, among a lot of other things. I don’t say that to garner your sympathy or to lessen your anger. I say it because it is true. Was the loss present day? — No. But true, none the less. In my “calendar past,” perhaps, but still very much so in my present day to day.
“I lied and I am not trying to hide that, nor am I trying to minimize it. Worse still, I lied to a community of people whose only intention was to support me through this time and that is wrong, and for that I am sorrier than you could know.
“The #1 question I have been asked in the last few days is what I would tell people online who followed my story, who are now upset to find it is not true. - The simplest and most honest way that I can answer why I started lying (even prior to opening my blog) and started my blog is that I am struggling with my life. I have been dealing with unresolved pain that weighs heavy on my heart and which I have been unable to handle alone.”
Although she’s really super, super sorry, Beccah asks that people stop speaking hatefully of her. Why? Because she’s suffering enough.
“Like I have already mentioned these are excruciatingly hard days for me (yes, I understand days in which I have brought on myself) and as I try to pick the very pieces of my life up, I would ask that you could allow me to do that and not continue the hate, or the slander, or the harassment…”
And more:
“Others think I should be burned at the stake. I will just say that I have sought His forgiveness and I am also now seeking yours, whoever you are. I know some won’t want to forgive, I know some aren’t Christians so don’t feel the need to, and I know some just plain won’t, but regardless, I am sincerely asking you all anyways, that you will forgive me and understand.”
Wait a sec, “I know some aren’t Christians so don’t feel the need to”? If I’m not Christian I lack the moral fiber for forgiveness? Oh Beccah, we have so much work to do with you.
But the girl sure has suffered, right? All you mothers who actually lost babies in childbirth, bug off! You don’t know pain like Beccah does. You gotta love how she shield’s herself behind God’s robes to pull off that sanctimonious request.
I’m glad she’s sorry and I’m fully aware that Beccah’s problem likely runs very deep down a psychological fault line, but she seems fairly lucid so, I being not Christian and therefore guess I’m allowed to say it, you can suck it Beccah.
More Stuff:
WATCH: Man Drinks Daughter’s Breast Milk to Cure Cancer
8 “PG” Movies Way Too Scary for Kids
6 Reasons Why it Sucks to Be a Kid Today
10 Great Books For (Traumatizing) Children
Related Posts:
Related Posts:- Dad Pleads Guilty To Impregnating and Killing Daughter
- Woman Finds Long Lost Dad By Googling Herself
- Kid Survives for 20 Days with $20: Could You Do It?
- Stolen Family Pic Ends up on Billboard
- Defying All Odds, Premature Baby Celebrates His First Birthday
Tags: abortion, baby, birth, complication, death, deformity, disease, pregnancy
10 Comments
Nicole commented on Jun 16 09 at 11:46 amPlease don’t use the phrase “unborn daughter” (or son, or child…) That little phrase (”unborn child” — just try googling it and see what the top hits are) is an invention of the anti-abortion rights crowd; with it, they want to make people inclined to feel that fetuses are babies, and thus slowly build support to overturn Roe v. Wade. “Fetus”, please!
Knitty commented on Jun 16 09 at 1:30 pmClassic sociopath.
I remember a similar case in Portland where a woman claimed to be dying of brain cancer and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and nursing services and items off her “wish list” and so on before she was exposed as a fraud. From what I can remember, her “apology” was remarkably similar to this awful person’s: “Oh, woe is me, poor me, I got caught and that’s really pretty sucky for me!”
PlumbLucky commented on Jun 16 09 at 2:45 pmSorry all right…sorry she got caught. She makes me very angry…
KellyK commented on Jun 16 09 at 3:10 pmWhat does christianity have to do with being able to say suck it? I hate when people profile christianity, and put everyone in a box. I am a christian and I say the H word, D word, the S word and the F word. Doesn’t make me a bad person or a bad christian or thank goodness a prude. And christian who tells me not to say something like suck it, can well suck it.
FYI: I totally understand I am off topic.
cole gamble commented on Jun 16 09 at 5:29 pmKellyK, I’m not profiling Christianity. According to Beccah, non-Christians don’t express (or are incapable of) forgiveness. The language has nothing to do with it.
Patrick Treadway commented on Jun 16 09 at 5:51 pm“I got caught! Hit the Xtian smokescreen!”
Kax commented on Jun 16 09 at 8:43 pm@Nicole I actually find the term “fetus” to be a construction of the anti-cannibalists. The use of the term baby-meat or snac-tivity are preferred.
Thank you.
Manjari commented on Jun 16 09 at 10:08 pmThere is just no excuse for that.
Twyla commented on Jun 17 09 at 12:17 am*I know some aren’t Christians so don’t feel the need to*
Please read that carefully. She does not say that non-Christians are incapable of or do not express forgiveness. She says you don’t NEED to. It is a fundamental belief of Christianity that you must forgive to be forgiven. I agree it was a poor choice of words but you are twisting them and adding to them. That is pretty unfair to the point she is making. Albeit, a bad point to make.
I agree with KellyK- it is unfair to put anyone in a box. Christianity runs a spectrum with a core sense of beliefs.
As to the article, this is the first I have ever heard of this woman and I bet she does have some pretty big issues.
Brett Singer commented on Jun 17 09 at 11:57 amI think the *I know some aren’t Christians so don’t feel the need to* comment that this clearly disturbed woman made is a smokescreen. It dilutes her apology. Anyone who would do this sort of thing is very very disturbed. Did I use the word disturbed already?
