Fake HOM mothers

I can usually spot these a mile off, but on one occasion on a UK board, we were all fooled for quite a while.
A quads mum started posting from Liverpool, soon after 2 sets were born in that area. The quads grew up to about age 2, with fairly regular updates. On one occasion, the 'mother' was worried about the development of one of her children, and having been through this, I felt able to offer some useful advice.
She had been giving support via text and telephone to another pregnant HOM mum, when we were all shocked to hear one of her children had died.
I won't give away how she was discovered, but we all felt shocked after this experience, having felt so much sympathy for her loss.
I don't know for what reason people make up stories about unbelievable pregnancies etc. Soemtimes it gives me a laugh myself, the absurdity of some claims.
But having been through a premature birth, the worries of tiny babies on the verge of death, and the resulting disability for one of them, I wish people could see that for some of us, these are real heartbreaking issues that affect us everyday.
And having seen firsthand how upsetting it was for this pregnant mother to have her time on bedrest in hospital tainted by support from what turned out to be a fantasist, I would urge anyone to be extremely cautious before entering into exchanging personal contact details wih others from forums.

 

This is really sad.... I think the saddest part is that some person out there has nothing better to do than to dream up a fantasy life about themselves. They aren't living a real life and probably have a lot of issues. For this reason I do think it's somewhat reasonable that there is a certain amount of skepticism over posters who claim to have or be pg with triplets or more. If the posts don't seem to add up, and they don't have anything like pictures verifying things, then I think it's unfair to condemn a certain level of questioning. I don't think rudeness is ever called for... but polite caution should never be offensive to a legit poster.

 

There is actually a website ( I wish I could find it now...) where someone has complied all the info on internet trolls who fake multiple births. It was amazing to read the amount of stuff some people make up....its frustrating to see and read and really irritating too...I will try to find it as you wouldn't believe how many are out there!

Here is the website
Just has some interesting stuff someone compiled..

 

I agree wholly with you two. Having been the victim of being called a "troll" because of the size of my family and having three sets (of twins), I resent the REAL trolls for making up fantastic stories to give us big families/families of higher order multiples/families of multiple multiples a bad name. Usually, they get caught up in their lies though because they don't know enough about the medical aspects or the history of recorded multiples births or even the first successful fertility treatments, etc....

 

If you ever question a member's validity, feel free to contact a moderator, chances are that we have already noticed it, and we are watching.

I agree that these people can really pull at your heartstrings, and it really makes me sad when I see real, caring, people being sucked in. As mods, we do all we can to prevent that from happening, but sometimes it takes a bit to "trip" them up.

 

http://www3.telus.net/tyee/multiples/fakers.html

thats the fakers website (ironically, I accessed it today to look up some info!)

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Jul 11 2007, 07:55 PM) [snapback]327014[/snapback]
If you ever question a member's validity, feel free to contact a moderator, chances are that we have already noticed it, and we are watching.

I agree that these people can really pull at your heartstrings, and it really makes me sad when I see real, caring, people being sucked in. As mods, we do all we can to prevent that from happening, but sometimes it takes a bit to "trip" them up.

My thoughts exactly!

Kendra (I think it was her) posted this quite a while ago about a multiple birth faker. Most fakers we notice immediately and start to keep an eye on, but if you are suspicious about a poster on TS then please either send a PM to a Mod or hit the "report" button in the lower left of their post.

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Jul 11 2007, 09:12 PM) [snapback]327050[/snapback]
Kendra (I think it was her) posted this quite a while ago about a multiple birth faker.


Oh my that was quite a story!!!

Tiffaney

 

Hahahaha, what a story! And poor "Kevin"...she wasn't "too big on the whole sex thing" (and that's why they had to resort to fertility meds)...PLEASE! :crazy:

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Jul 11 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]327050[/snapback]
Kendra (I think it was her) posted this quite a while ago about a multiple birth faker. Most fakers we notice immediately and start to keep an eye on, but if you are suspicious about a poster on TS then please either send a PM to a Mod or hit the "report" button in the lower left of their post.


Nope, thats not one of my stories. (though Facts About Multiples (linked already a couple of times) is a fabulous site, I use it all the time)

Oh the stories I could tell about some fakes I've run in to, not just in the multiples world (parenting muliples and being multiples themselves) but in my royal watching.

Defintly report any suspicions and make sure you know the story is actually real before you get to involved. Many a compassionate person has gotten burned by someone out to fake for some reason or another.

 

That story made my day! :rofl: How do people come up with this stuff?! It's sad that people will take advantage of others like that!

 

I remember that one!! :rofl: We've definitely had some doozies!

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Jul 11 2007, 07:12 PM) [snapback]327050[/snapback]
Kendra (I think it was her) posted this quite a while ago about a multiple birth faker.


I remember that one. IT is so outrageous I thought it was supposed to be a joke! :rofl:

 

Who was the one that was asking for EXTREMELY high yield recipes? Oatmeal to feed like 86 or something like that?

 

QUOTE(Donita @ Jul 11 2007, 11:47 PM) [snapback]327212[/snapback]
Who was the one that was asking for EXTREMELY high yield recipes? Oatmeal to feed like 86 or something like that?

THAT must have been the Russian lady with the 67 kids from the 1800's! :rotflmbo:

 

QUOTE(Kendra @ Jul 11 2007, 08:45 PM) [snapback]327115[/snapback]
Nope, thats not one of my stories. (though Facts About Multiples (linked already a couple of times) is a fabulous site, I use it all the time)

Oh the stories I could tell about some fakes I've run in to, not just in the multiples world (parenting muliples and being multiples themselves) but in my royal watching.

Defintly report any suspicions and make sure you know the story is actually real before you get to involved. Many a compassionate person has gotten burned by someone out to fake for some reason or another.

Why do I always think it was you that posted it??? :crazy:

 

QUOTE(Donita @ Jul 12 2007, 03:47 AM) [snapback]327212[/snapback]
Who was the one that was asking for EXTREMELY high yield recipes? Oatmeal to feed like 86 or something like that?

Or the one who had 4-5 sets of spontaneous twins and triplets plus 7 or so singetons with names like "Crystal Sapphire." All I remember is that she posted her schedule and she was still nursing 7 kids - 3 year old twins, 2 year old triplets and 3 month old twins, or something like that. And the youngest twins were also getting juice and solids

 

QUOTE(BounceTigger @ Jul 11 2007, 10:59 PM) [snapback]327230[/snapback]
Or the one who had 4-5 sets of spontaneous twins and triplets plus 7 or so singetons with names like "Crystal Sapphire." All I remember is that she posted her schedule and she was still nursing 7 kids - 3 year old twins, 2 year old triplets and 3 month old twins, or something like that. And the youngest twins were also getting juice and solids

Now, how did I miss that one? :rofl:

 

I have to wonder if these people really know how many they hurt by their lies. Not too long ago, there was a woman (on another board...a Christian SAHM board, no less) who basically faked her pregnancy and other aspects of her life to get people to feel sorry for her. The only way they discovered it was because she used a stock ultrasound photo from some Saudi Arabian doctor's website. She wore the same size clothing I did, so I sent her boxes and boxes of stuff because I wanted to be nice. It's really hurtful to find out someone has tricked you like that.

What an awful thing to do! Faking a singleton pregnancy is enough...but multiples?! Who has time for that!

 

How OUTRAGIOUS !!!!

Could she have made that story any more unreal or what :lol:

 

That story was so outrageous!! How on earth did she think anyone would believe that lol. Some people dont have a clue!

 

So sad! I didn't even know about this kind of stuff before I joined TS. W :icon_eek: W have my eyes been opened!! But, I guess it's just the way of the world. The fakers get ya anyway they can.

 

My personal favorite was the woman who joined a message board at about 33 weeks, went into labor two days later while at home. Posted "What do I do" and "here comes another one" messages between contractions as she was laboring as board members were posting instructions for her. The ambulance didn't make it in time and she gave birth to two three-pounders at home. She had two or three toddlers at the time, too. A few days later she was home from the hospital (very healthy three-pounders!) complaining that all the babies did was sleep and she was bored. A week or so after that, she sent the babies to school with her toddler daughter as the little girl's "Show and tell" item.

The whole thing was uproariously funny, actually, especially in that some posters really never realized that she was a troll until the admin finally banned her. :lol:

ETA: A bit off-topic, I guess, since she wasn't technically a HOM faker, but my favorite nonetheless

 

My favorite wasn't a HOM mom either. But she was outrageous. She was on the message board looking for sympathy for a loss. She had identical B/G twins (not entirely likely, but not entirely impossible either). The girl was healthy, but poor mother, bless her soul, she lost her son to TTTS because they shared an umbilical cord !! They were born at 5 months (no weeks, just 5 mo) and the girl was 3lbs and in the hospital for a week and went home with her. The boy she said lived for 2 days, but he was only 1/2 a lb. That one was tough not to laugh at!

 

QUOTE(BGTwins97 @ Jul 12 2007, 08:45 AM) [snapback]327495[/snapback]
My personal favorite was the woman who joined a message board at about 33 weeks, went into labor two days later while at home. Posted "What do I do" and "here comes another one" messages between contractions as she was laboring as board members were posting instructions for her. The ambulance didn't make it in time and she gave birth to two three-pounders at home. She had two or three toddlers at the time, too. A few days later she was home from the hospital (very healthy three-pounders!) complaining that all the babies did was sleep and she was bored. A week or so after that, she sent the babies to school with her toddler daughter as the little girl's "Show and tell" item.

The whole thing was uproariously funny, actually, especially in that some posters really never realized that she was a troll until the admin finally banned her. :lol:

ETA: A bit off-topic, I guess, since she wasn't technically a HOM faker, but my favorite nonetheless


Oh my!! :rotflmbo:


Some are very, very obvious like that one(to most anyway!), but some are a little more sly.

 

One another site I am one a girl who's baby is the same age as mine was being "tested" for being a genius as he is talking, responding, walking at NINE months old. She also found her husband was cheating, he broke her nose and they are getting back together, now she was pregnant with twins when he punched her. She lost one then the other and now she's pregnant again. I don't believe any of it and its sad because some of the girls in the group have sent her things.

 

A couple years ago on babycenter there was a woman who claimed to be from TX and pg with twins (b/g) and apparently her whole family was in a horrible car accident. She claimed her uterus "ruptured" right after the accident. She gave a whole really sad story about watching her 3yo pass away. Then she claimed her b/g twins were doing just fine after a ruptured uterus on the highway. Everyone was raising money for her until somebody decided to look for reports on the accident in the paper and nothing was found. She made up the whole story....it was horrible....

 

QUOTE
My personal favorite was the woman who joined a message board at about 33 weeks, went into labor two days later while at home. Posted "What do I do" and "here comes another one"
That is priceless!!
QUOTE
because they shared an umbilical cord
:rofl: What a riot!!

Apparently I need to spend more time in expecting!!

 

WOW! I can't believe that people thought those stories were believable.

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Jul 11 2007, 08:12 PM) [snapback]327050[/snapback]
My thoughts exactly!

Kendra (I think it was her) posted this quite a while ago about a multiple birth faker. Most fakers we notice immediately and start to keep an eye on, but if you are suspicious about a poster on TS then please either send a PM to a Mod or hit the "report" button in the lower left of their post.


Ah yes I remember that one. What a story!!

QUOTE(BounceTigger @ Jul 11 2007, 09:59 PM) [snapback]327230[/snapback]
Or the one who had 4-5 sets of spontaneous twins and triplets plus 7 or so singetons with names like "Crystal Sapphire." All I remember is that she posted her schedule and she was still nursing 7 kids - 3 year old twins, 2 year old triplets and 3 month old twins, or something like that. And the youngest twins were also getting juice and solids


I don't remember the part abt nursing 7, but I do remember the names. I remember that they were all a little...uh...different...

 

wow those stories really are amazing lol, i had no idea that there are people like that out there!

 

Oh, does anyone remember the gal that claimed that she had her twin girls on February 30?? Yah I was :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: when I read taht one too. I tried to search for it, but couldn't find it in Google...

 

QUOTE(missmomoftwins @ Jul 12 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]327756[/snapback]
Oh, does anyone remember the gal that claimed that she had her twin girls on February 30?? Yah I was :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: when I read taht one too. I tried to search for it, but couldn't find it in Google...


:lol:
She must have been on a completely different planet. February 30th, huh?

 

QUOTE(Twingirlz4me. @ Jul 12 2007, 03:41 AM) [snapback]327370[/snapback]
How OUTRAGIOUS !!!!

Could she have made that story any more unreal or what :lol:


Well maybe she was writing a fairy tale! You really have to to have 6 kids and start squeezing them out before your even dialated, much less it would have been a c-sec for sure.

That got me cracking up!

Honestly though its hard enough on us legit MOM's and to have people pretend they are it gets my goat.

 

are they sure that sextuplet story wasn't written by a sixth grader???... It really was so ridiculously off that I wonder if any woman who has ever had a vaginal exam would have been able to write it.... or any woman who has ever even spoken with another woman who has given birth. ....or maybe it was written by a man!! ha ha... I think I remember reading somewhere another home birth story about quads that seemed ridiculous...the woman had them out in her garden b/c she loved the peaceful environment there...oh and they didn't realize they were quads until they were born...just 3 weeks early... Okay...slightly plausible...but highly unlikely...

Those sorts of ridiculous stories don't bother me...they are so obvious....like the one mom that was on here a few months back...all her kids were in modelling...and she and her dh modelled too...and they all had celebrity names. She didn't continue her saga much past that first post, if I remember correctly... so the ones that are so absurd seem to me like an obvious attempt to just be plain silly... It's the ones that are very carefully written out with somewhat believable plights... that go on for weeks or months...those are sad...not just for the people being fooled, but as a reflexion on the mental/emotional health of the person doing the faking.