Blogger admits tale of ill child was hoax
MOKENA -- The story was compelling: An unmarried Illinois mother chose to carry her terminally ill child to term rather than have an abortion because of her deep Christian faith.
It was all a hoax.
For two months, the suburban Chicago woman wrote about her pregnancy, her fears and her hopes on a blog that drew nearly a million hits to her Web site. Followers promised to pray for her and her baby, April Rose. They sent letters and gifts to a post office box she listed online.
But when "April's Mom" wrote on Sunday that her baby had died hours after being delivered at home -- and posted photos -- supporters soon realized they'd been duped.
One of the followers recognized the "baby" swaddled in white blankets as a lifelike doll that she had in her own home.
"As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was a scam," said Elizabeth Russell, a doll maker from Buffalo.
There never was a pregnancy, only a 26-year-old social worker named Beccah Beushausen from suburban Mokena who said she always liked to write. Angry followers on dozens of Christian parenting Web sites helped expose Beushausen's identity.
Beushausen's Web site had been removed by Friday, and an address listed for a Rebeccah Beushausen in Mokena didn't include a phone number. Messages left at a number listed for her mother were not immediately returned.
Beushausen said she started the blog in March to help recover from the loss of a son shortly after his birth in 2005, but then became addicted to the attention it was generating.
"Soon I was getting 100,000 hits a week, and it just got out of hand," Beushausen told the Chicago Tribune for a story Friday. "I didn't know how to stop. ... One lie led to another."
Beushausen told readers that her unborn child had Trisomy 13 syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that can cause severe mental retardation and death. She also concocted a father for the child, and called him "D."
In a cached blog entry dated June 1, almost a week before she would post a fictional account of the child's birth, Beushausen writes about a supposed doctor's checkup that day, saying her estimated delivery date was likely off by a week. She also wrote about how she would panic if she didn't feel her baby move.
"To me, this is the perfect time for God to show himself. For God to heal April. For a miracle to occur," she wrote.
She goes on to talk about her anger at her "dark hole" and her faith that it was God's plan.
"I know that God isn't done with me yet. Perhaps. He is asking me to stop questioning ... To deny my emotions, my wants, my desires and just be faithful, no matter how hard it hurts."
Supporters said they were drawn by their own beliefs, a desire the support the woman, known only as "B'' or "April's Mom," and her beautiful writing. Now they just feel used.
"I feel emotionally exploited," said Jennifer McKinney of Minnesota, who now said it seems Beushausen seemed overly concerned with attracting hits to her Web site. McKinney, who writes a Christian blog, said Beushausen asked for help promoting her blog.
The Web site beliefnet.com on Friday posted an angry entry, berating Beushausen for preying on people's religious and spiritual beliefs.
"Getting people to pray for a scam? Manipulating people's love of God, their inner-most compassionate impulses? Getting people to twist their own relationships with the divine for a fake tragedy? Stunning," it read.
There is no evidence Beushausen committed a crime or received any significant financial gain.
She said she plans to write one final blog, to apologize.
"I know what I did was wrong," said Beushausen, who said she's been getting hate mail. "I'm sorry because people were so emotionally involved."