SHE FAKED A PREGNANCY — THEN A NEWBORN BABY DISAPPEARED FROM HOSPITAL

What began with years of heartbreak and three miscarriages eventually became an extraordinary kidnapping case in Mexico. Eleonor Alejandra Mendoza, known as Ale, secretly pretended to remain pregnant after losing another baby — and later walked out of a hospital carrying a newborn.

THE LIE THAT KEPT GETTING BIGGER

Ale said she had always dreamed of becoming a mother.

After suffering three miscarriages, she described feeling enormous pressure from her husband’s family to have a child.

Instead of revealing that she had lost another pregnancy in 2009, she began creating an elaborate illusion.

She deliberately gained weight, told relatives she was pregnant and even attended a baby shower.

Her supposed due date was approaching.

But there was one problem:

There was no baby.

THEN SHE MET A WOMAN AT THE HOSPITAL

While working at a hospital in Mexico City, Ale said she met Mayra Navarro Vega, a pregnant woman who was considering giving her baby away.

According to Ale’s account, the two reached an agreement for her to secretly take the newborn.

But Mayra later gave a completely different version.

She said there was never any agreement.

Documents cited in the documentary reportedly supported Mayra’s account that she had not been receiving pregnancy care at that hospital until shortly before giving birth.

THE NEWBORN WAS TAKEN

After Mayra gave birth to a baby girl named Katya, Ale returned to the hospital.

She eventually left carrying the tiny newborn inside a shopping bag.

The documentary reportedly shows CCTV footage of the moment.

Outside the hospital, she encountered her husband Arturo.

She confessed what she had done.

He initially ordered her to return the baby, but the couple eventually went to a hotel with the newborn.

Hours later, police arrived.

The baby was taken back.

And both Ale and Arturo were arrested.

THE HUSBAND’S STORY CHANGED TOO

Arturo was imprisoned for about two and a half years during the case.

But at trial, he was acquitted.

Ale, meanwhile, was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Arturo later said that his own desire to become a father — and his insistence on having a biological child — had made him reflect on whether he had contributed to the pressure Ale felt.

BUT THE NEWBORN’S MOTHER DENIED THE DEAL

Mayra has continued to reject Ale’s account.

She said she had never promised to give away her daughter.

According to her testimony, she had been suffering from a serious infection after giving birth and briefly left the room to provide medical samples.

When she returned:

Her baby was gone.

She initially assumed a nurse had taken Katya for routine care.

She did not immediately realize the child had been kidnapped.

THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS

Ale’s story is one of grief, pressure, deception and a decision that ultimately became a criminal case.

But the baby’s parents tell a fundamentally different story — one in which there was no secret agreement at all.

And that disagreement sits at the heart of the extraordinary case.

 Three miscarriages.

 A pregnancy that was never real.

 A newborn taken from a hospital.

A 13-year prison sentence.

 And two completely different versions of how the kidnapping happened.

The case is now being revisited in the Netflix documentary A Child of My Own, which gives Ale, Arturo and Mayra an opportunity to tell their respective sides.

This post distinguishes Ale’s account from the claims made by the baby’s parents and the findings of the court.