BONUS EP 2: Andrea Dunlop’s Story

Summary

Betrayal: Weekly – BONUS EP 2: Andrea Dunlop’s Story

Host: Andrea Gunning
Release Date: March 20, 2025

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Introduction to Andrea Dunlop's Story

In this compelling bonus episode of Betrayal: Weekly, host Andrea Gunning delves into the personal and harrowing story of Andrea Dunlop and her sister Megan. This episode explores themes of trust, deception, and the devastating impact of betrayal within a family, shedding light on complex issues like Munchausen’s by proxy.

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Childhood and Early Family Dynamics

Andrea begins by recounting her shared childhood with her sister Megan, highlighting their close bond despite differing personalities. Megan, the social butterfly, was always outgoing and connected effortlessly with others, while Andrea was more introverted.

• Megan Dunlop (03:09): “We had this very happy childhood. It feels like a real bygone era now.”

The sisters grew up in an affluent Seattle suburb, enjoying activities like sports, bike riding, and building forts, fostering a strong sibling code of loyalty and secrecy.

• Megan Dunlop (04:11): “Nobody's snitching to mom and dad... just like a sibling co-conspirator.”

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Megan's Health Issues and Early Signs

As teenagers, Megan began experiencing unexplained physical ailments, including back and knee pain, and even sudden hair loss. These mysterious symptoms led to numerous doctor visits and surgeries that yielded no concrete diagnoses.

• Megan Dunlop (05:05): “There was an incident in high school where she was losing her hair all of a sudden. It was like a big deal.”

Andrea notes how Megan’s health issues were a source of constant concern, yet Megan maintained a brave and stoic demeanor.

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College Years and Emerging Struggles

Megan pursued a nursing degree, seemingly finding her calling, while Andrea moved to New York City to chase her dreams of becoming a writer. However, Megan's behavior began to raise red flags as she became involved in questionable relationships and exhibited signs of deceit.

• Megan Dunlop (10:27): “I was pretty defensive of her with my mom and dad... didn’t want that to split up my sister and I.”

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The Pregnancy and Familial Crisis

Megan's announcement of her pregnancy with twins introduced significant strife. The family detected inconsistencies in her stories, leading Andrea to suspect deceit. Megan’s boyfriend's sudden departure and conflicting accounts of the pregnancy deepened these suspicions.

• Megan Dunlop (11:47): “A lot of, like, girly secret keeping stuff...”

Discrepancies emerged when Megan provided conflicting explanations about her pregnancy and medical records, prompting the family to confront her.

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Intervention and Accusations of Munchausen’s by Proxy

The family's mounting concerns culminated in suspicions of Munchausen’s by proxy, a form of abuse where a caregiver induces or fabricates medical conditions in those they care for, typically children.

• Andrea Dunlop (30:10): “Munchausen’s by proxy... they might make someone else sick...”

Despite presenting substantial evidence, including Megan’s history of deceit, the court ultimately ruled in Megan’s favor, dismissing the allegations as unfounded due to insufficient evidence.

• Andrea Dunlop (34:16): “They believed Megan had Munchausen’s.”

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Estrangement and Continued Struggles

Following the court decision, Megan severed ties with her family, leading to years of silence. Andrea focused on her own mental health and career, while Megan continued to experience tragic losses, including the death of her children, which further strained family relations.

• Megan Dunlop (36:27): “I had to tell my parents... it’s so upsetting to learn about these things... I don't want to know anymore.”

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Andrea’s Advocacy and Megan's Defense

Andrea pursued advocacy against medical child abuse, developing her own podcast, "Nobody Should Believe Me," to expose similar cases and support affected families. Megan, meanwhile, maintained her innocence, labeling Andrea’s allegations as defamatory and seeking to share her side through media channels.

• Megan Dunlop (50:23): “This is how I got here.”
• Andrea Dunlop (53:58): “Andrea wants her work to reach her niece and nephew.”

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Publication and Legal Battles

Andrea co-authored a nonfiction book, "The Mother Next Door," with Detective Mike Weber, further detailing Megan’s case and advocating for awareness and support for victims of Munchausen’s by proxy. Megan responded with legal threats, claiming defamation and attempting to suppress Andrea’s work.

• Megan Dunlop (55:25): “This is the first time that I’d ever publicly talked about my sister.”
• Andrea Dunlop (57:44): “Next week, we're bringing you another bonus episode...”

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Current Status and Ongoing Efforts

Despite years of conflict and lack of legal resolution, Andrea remains steadfast in her mission to educate and protect vulnerable children by exposing patterns of medical abuse. Megan continues to live her life under public scrutiny, denying all accusations and maintaining her role as a devoted mother.

• Andrea Dunlop (54:24): “After two investigations into Megan yielded no convictions, the Dunlops are left only with their truth.”
• Megan Dunlop (57:44): “I have a really strong core belief that stories are the best way to learn and to move people on an issue.”

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Conclusion: The Quest for Truth and Healing

Andrea Dunlop’s story is a heart-wrenching testament to the complexities of familial betrayal and the struggle for truth in the face of denial and deception. Through her podcast and written work, Andrea continues to seek justice and healing for her family, advocating for those who cannot speak for themselves.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Megan Dunlop (04:11): “Nobody's snitching to mom and dad... just like a sibling co-conspirator.”
• Megan Dunlop (05:05): “There was an incident in high school where she was losing her hair all of a sudden. It was like a big deal.”
• Andrea Dunlop (30:10): “Munchausen’s by proxy... they might make someone else sick…”
• Megan Dunlop (50:23): “This is how I got here.”
• Andrea Dunlop (57:44): “Next week, we're bringing you another bonus episode...”
• Andrea Dunlop (54:24): “After two investigations into Megan yielded no convictions, the Dunlops are left only with their truth.”

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Final Thoughts

This bonus episode of Betrayal: Weekly masterfully intertwines personal narrative with broader social issues, offering listeners an intimate look into Andrea Dunlop’s fight against familial betrayal and abuse. It serves as both a cautionary tale and a beacon of resilience, emphasizing the importance of trust, truth, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

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Produced by: Glass Podcasts in partnership with iHeart Podcasts
Executive Producers: Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison
Written and Produced by: Monique Laborde and Ben Federman
Associate Producers: Kristen Melchiori and Kaitlyn Golden
Audio Editing and Mixing: Matt Delvec Yo
Additional Editing Support: Tanner Robbins
Theme Music: Oliver Baines

For more episodes, visit iHeartRadio or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Andrea Gunning]

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[Andrea Dunlop]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals.

[Megan Dunlop]

Like your graduation gifters.

[Andy]

Who's paying for the mattress topper?

[Andrea Dunlop]

You mean the beanbag chair?

[Andy]

Aren't we getting a mini fridge?

[Andrea Gunning]

Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy.

[Andy]

Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal. Get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create.

[California Psychics]

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[Andrea Gunning]

A little more connected, but a little further apart.

[Megan Dunlop]

But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[California Psychics]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Megan Dunlop]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Andrea Gunning]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking.

[Megan Dunlop]

It's human.

[Andrea Gunning]

Amika, empathy is our best policy.

[Megan Dunlop]

I really think of this as like, this moment that, like, sort of split my life in half. Like, there's a very, very distinct sort of before and after. And I remember thinking, like, oh, my family as I know it is.

[Andrea Dunlop]

I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is a special bonus episode of Betrayal. Recently, we've connected with the host of another popular podcast about betrayal and deception. It's called Nobody Should Believe Me, hosted by Andrea Dunlop. Every season covers a case of factitious disorder, also known as Munchausen's. And for Andrea, the story is personal. We're going to be hearing more from her over the next few weeks. So we wanted to start by telling Andrea's story. It starts in childhood and involves some of her earliest memories of her sister, Megan.

[Megan Dunlop]

My sister and I are less than two years apart. She was born in 80, I was born in 82. Right. So I feel like we had this very happy childhood. It feels like a real bygone era now. Right.

[Andrea Dunlop]

They grew up in an affluent Seattle suburb.

[Megan Dunlop]

You know, we were friends with all the other kids on our block. And there was, like, not busy streets, like a lot of, like, riding bikes. We played outdoors a lot, built a lot of forts, climbed a lot of trees. Just like such a dream, such a dream childhood.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Her sister Megan was a social butterfly.

[Megan Dunlop]

But when I was a kid, I was not really the kid that would just like, go up to a person and be like, hello. And my sister always was that person. Right. She just always seemed to have a really easy time connecting with people. She seemed, like, especially good at relationships.

[Andrea Dunlop]

She always felt cool when she got to spend time with her older sister and her friends. Because Andrea looked up to Megan. By the time they were teenagers, they had each other's backs.

[Megan Dunlop]

It's like you have the sibling code, this code of, like, nobody's snitching to mom and dad, so, like, if you're sneaking out or like, pretending you were somewhere else when you're at your boyfriend's house, a lot of, like, girly secret keeping stuff and just kind of like a sibling co conspirator.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Both girls loved sports, like tennis and swimming. But in high school, Megan started having problems with her back.

[Megan Dunlop]

My memory of it was that it was sports injuries. I have really strong memory of this, like, weird plastic back brace that she had that she would wear.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And then Andrea told us that Megan began having knee pain.

[Megan Dunlop]

She was saying she was having all this pain in her knee. And they went in and did a surgery and they couldn't find anything.

[Andrea Dunlop]

But Andrea recalls what was most alarming of all.

[Megan Dunlop]

There was an incident in high school where she was losing her hair all of a sudden. And that was very memorable because that's like a big deal and you're a teenage girl and, like, losing your hair, which is like such a nightmare. So I remember hearing conversations about that and thinking like, oh, wow, my sister's just really unlucky that she has all these things happen. And there was certainly, I remember in our teenage years, kind of a feeling of like, oh, there's always something like, oh, it doesn't get better, and then it's this, and then it's that.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea said that Megan always needed to go to the doctor to get something examined or to have X rays done. But she said Megan had a good attitude about it.

[Megan Dunlop]

Oh, yeah, like, she's brave, she's stoic, she has this tough thing, but she's just, like, kind of persevering.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea, on the other hand, was perfectly healthy. So whenever her mom and sister went to doctor's appointments, she got to stay at home reading teen magazines.

[Megan Dunlop]

I was obsessed with magazines when I was a teenager. It was just like, young people today could never imagine, like, the hold that magazines had on us as teenagers because, you know, I was, like, living in this very, like, sleepy suburb, which is, like, again, a very nice childhood experience to have, but very, you know, it's just like, oh, I gotta get out of this small town.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The magazines made her feel mature. They gave her a peek into adulthood. And when Megan went off to college, Andrea got to visit. There she could put all of her teen magazine knowledge to good use.

[Megan Dunlop]

Yeah, this was a time where I was just like, oh, my God, my sister is a college girl. And so, like, I would go to parties with them and I had my little fake id, so we would go to the clubs in Canada where they could get in when they were 19. So, yeah, sorry, mom and dad, but, yeah, we had a great time. And it just seemed like the coolest thing ever. I think those are some of, like, the easiest years of our relationship.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Megan didn't seem too concerned about her classes or grades, so it was a surprise to the family when she announced.

[Megan Dunlop]

That she wanted to do pre med as a major and really started talking about getting into the medical field. But, you know, given that my sister was not a big school person, obviously becoming a doctor involves a lot of school. So I think it was a little bit like, well, all right, like, it's okay. Better start maybe, you know, studying a bit more. And then eventually she dropped out of college and went to get her nursing degree. And I remember thinking, oh, this seems like a really good field for her.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Megan had always been drawn to medical stuff, so it felt like a natural fit. Around the same time, their cousin was diagnosed with leukemia. The disease was progressing rapidly.

[Megan Dunlop]

It was horrible. And Megan started going to see him a lot. I remember thinking like, oh, I feel very scared of this. And it doesn't seem like my sister feels scared of it. And I remember just admiring that about her.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Eventually, Megan earned her nursing degree and got a job working at an OB GYN clinic in their hometown.

[Megan Dunlop]

She seemed to be, like, really thriving in her job. You know, this is an office that I would go to. I knew a bunch of people from the office, so I knew she was, like, very well liked. In that office, she had a lot of friends. Like, people seemed to really respect her. I would get in the habit of very much of, like, asking my sister, you know, whatever, like, medical questions.

[Andrea Dunlop]

As Megan's career took off, Andrea's did too. When Andrea graduated college, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a magazine writer or maybe a novelist.

[Megan Dunlop]

You know, was 21, 22. It was very much the era of the 10 Things I Hate about you. Devil wears Prada. It was like, you're going to move to the big city and you're going to work for a magazine. So that's what, that's what I want to do is like, okay, I'm going to go be, like, a magazine journalist. And then, yeah, I look back and I just have to laugh at myself. I'm like, oh, boy, what a case of main character syndrome.

[Andrea Dunlop]

She landed a job at the book publisher Random House.

[Megan Dunlop]

I had, like, all my delusions intact about becoming a published novelist. And so I was like, well, surely now, like, I know all these people in publishing and it will be easy. No, that is not quite how it worked out.

[Andrea Dunlop]

New York was a grind. Andrea worked long days and often forgot to call back home to check on her parents and her sister.

[Megan Dunlop]

You know, in terms of what was going on with her life at this time, there was a bunch of stuff that I didn't know about that was happening.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea alleges that at one point, Megan got evicted from her apartment. But Andrea was far removed from the family drama back in Seattle.

[Megan Dunlop]

Certainly, I think my parents were having some bigger concerns because they were sort of actively bailing her out of these situations and sort of, that was kind of my understanding of a lot of this, right? It's like, oh, you know, they're gonna have to, like, swoop in again. So I was aware of that and sort of aware of their relationship becoming more difficult.

[Andrea Dunlop]

But she and her sister still had that sibling code. They were on each other's team.

[Megan Dunlop]

I was pretty defensive of her with my mom and dad, right? Of just like, oh, you guys are just, like, so hard on her or whatever. I mean, they may even have tried to sort of, like, talk to me more about it. And I, I, I, I don't know that I was super, like, accepting of it because I didn't want that to split up my sister and I.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Soon, her parents concerns became hard to ignore.

[Megan Dunlop]

This is where stuff, like, really took a turn again. My sister was working still as a nurse, and she had met this boyfriend who had a son, I think he was five at the time. They seemed like a strange fit, like he worked at this pawn shop, and the fact that he had a kid was like, an extra sort of attraction, that she could just be an immediate mom. And she seemed to slip into that role really fast. And so we were sort of, like, concerned about that situation.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Megan always wanted to be a mom, but taking to the role so quickly for a child she just met seemed troubling and maybe irresponsible. When Andrea tried to talk to Megan about her decisions, they got into a big fight. She says Megan cut her off for months. But then Megan came to the family with big news.

[Megan Dunlop]

She called me to tell me that she was pregnant.

[Andrea Dunlop]

With the announcement, Andrea and her family were ready to embrace Megan to start a new chapter.

[Megan Dunlop]

Someone tells you they're pregnant, it's like, all right, well, we're gonna, like, move past this whatever thing. And at least for me, like, that's what I did. I was like, oh, yeah, who cares about that stupid fight we had? You know? And then the story that I heard and that my parents heard was that her boyfriend was going back to Tennessee, where he was from, because he had to go there for work. And so he was going to be there temporarily, but, like, he was going to come back and this whole thing.

[Andrea Dunlop]

So with her boyfriend and his son out of town, the family rallied around Megan. After her first pregnancy scan, she called Andrea with more good news.

[Megan Dunlop]

She's pregnant with twins, twin girls. So we're excited. I was thrilled about being an aunt during Megan's pregnancy.

[Andrea Dunlop]

With the twins, Andrea felt far away, so she made trips home to Seattle as much as she could.

[Megan Dunlop]

She, you know, had a belly. She was wearing maternity clothes. We got presents for the babies. I remember getting, like, children's books from the publisher I was working with. And she had a bunch of baby stuff in her apartment because it was happening.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And then on one visit home, Andrea told us about one particular moment. It's a memory she's replayed in her mind a thousand times. A moment where she trusted her sister so much that the lines of her own reality blurred.

[Megan Dunlop]

My very weirdest memory was sitting with her at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving, and she was like, oh, my gosh, Andrea, put your hand on my belly. The baby's kicking. And I was like, oh, my God, that's so cool. And I felt a baby kick.

[Andrea Dunlop]

That year, Andrea spent New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. She said that in the middle of the celebration, she got a panicked phone.

[Megan Dunlop]

Call from her parents, and they Said that Megan was in the hospital and that she had gone into labor early and she was about six months along. So you know, that's scary early. And she said, yeah, my water broke and then they took me to the hospital and she. Yeah, it was just like really telling us this really dramatic situation with the.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Rest of her family and her boyfriend out of town. Megan was alone, dealing with this crisis on her own.

[Megan Dunlop]

And so my parents, you know, started scrambling to get flights back. I had to go back to New York because I was like, you know, some brand new job and like was very junior so I couldn't take any more time off. I remember talking to her like in the airport. I was just sort of like get on a flight. And then called her as soon as I got off and just was for updates, you know. And then she ended up losing the babies.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Their entire family was crushed. By the time their parents got home, Megan had been discharged from the hospital.

[Megan Dunlop]

And I was heartbroken, like six months in, just devastating. And I knew how much she wanted to be a mom and like, yeah, it was just really, really, really sad for her.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And then Andrea alleges that I think.

[Megan Dunlop]

It was probably about a week after I got back in New York, my dad called me and said something to the effect of the story of Megan's about these babies is not adding up.

[Andrea Dunlop]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[California Psychics]

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[Megan Dunlop]

Hi, this is Debbie, your blinds.com design consultant.

[Andy]

Oh, wow, a real person.

[Megan Dunlop]

Yep. I'm here to help with everything from selecting the perfect window treatment to I've.

[Andy]

Got a complicated project.

[Megan Dunlop]

No problem. We make the complex simple, and I can even help schedule a professional measure and install.

[Andy]

I didn't realize you did that.

[Megan Dunlop]

Yeah, we can also send you samples fast and free. Wow.

[Andy]

I mean, I always thought I needed a designer to come to my home, but scheduling is always a nightmare.

[Megan Dunlop]

Knotwithblinds.com, we're on your schedule, and there's no haggling, no pressure, no hidden fees either.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Hmm.

[Andy]

I just might have to do more.

[Megan Dunlop]

Oh, okay. Whatever you need. How about you tell me what you had in mind?

[Andrea Dunlop]

Okay, then.

[Megan Dunlop]

So the first room we're looking at is for guests coming over. Blinds.com has covered over 25 million windows, all backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Shop blinds.com now and get up to 40% off with minimum purchase rules and restrictions may apply.

[Andrea Dunlop]

A few weeks after her sister lost the babies, Andrea Dunlop got another emergency call, this time from her dad. He was claiming that something was wrong with Megan's story. He told her that earlier that week, their mom had been over at Megan's.

[Megan Dunlop]

Apartment, which I think she was getting evicted from, and electricity had been shut off, and it was just, like, in a bad state.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea's mom alleged that she saw some.

[Megan Dunlop]

Paperwork for hospital Admission that was on the date that she had said she was in the hospital and she had been seen for dehydration. There was nothing else in the paperwork.

[Andrea Dunlop]

It was an alarming discovery. So Andrea called her sister's best friend, the one who drove Megan to the hospital.

[Megan Dunlop]

She and I started talking, and she told me. Well, Megan told me that her fiance made it back in time and that he was the one who took her to the hospital, and that they said goodbye to the babies and took pictures. You know, detailed. Like, really detailed versions. And so obviously, like, those are two completely separate stories.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea needed to talk with Megan's fiance. When she tracked him down, she says, he told her an entirely different story. He said they were no longer together and that he'd left Megan a few months prior.

[Megan Dunlop]

He had witnessed some behavior with my sister and his son that had alarmed him and that had crossed the line for him and broke up with her. And then the next day, she came home from work with a positive pregnancy test. Now, my sister worked for an obgyn clinic. And then she brought home ultrasounds, which I had seen, also ultrasound photos. And she had torn a piece of it off. And he found the piece, and it had someone else's name on it. And she gave him this explanation of, like, oh, well, I just did the scan on myself, and I had to enter someone else's name so that it would end. I mean, it's just, like, completely nonsensical.

[Andrea Dunlop]

So the family went to Megan to ask what was really going on. And according to Andrea, Megan confessed that she had lied. She admitted that she'd actually lost the babies earlier in the pregnancy, right after her fiance broke up with her. But she was too distraught and embarrassed to tell anyone. With so many different versions of the story, it was hard to know what was true.

[Megan Dunlop]

The most likely outcome is that she had never been pregnant, you know, and this was not ever a real pregnancy. So that was a big deal, because then this was a family crisis.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea struggled to accept that her own sister could have lied to her like this.

[Megan Dunlop]

I think I was in such shock and scared, honestly. Like, it's a scary thing to go down this road and start thinking about, like, what do you mean it wasn't real? Like, I just saw her. She looked pregnant. I felt baby's king. Like, what are you talking about?

[Andrea Dunlop]

Plus, Andrea had spent hours on the phone consoling her sister while she was in crisis.

[Megan Dunlop]

I knew she was capable of being deceptive. I had seen that. But this was just such a deeper level, and it was so dramatic. Thinking about her sitting on the phone, just like, in her apartment, narrating. This whole thing to me was really, really disturbing.

[Andrea Dunlop]

It was an unthinkable situation, and everyone in the family was handling it differently.

[Megan Dunlop]

My dad was obviously upset, but I think he was much more straightforward. You know, he's British with, like, stiff upper lip and sort of like, we're just gonna, like, fix it and like, we gotta just get in there and just get Megan shaped up, you know, kind of thing. So I think that was kind of his approach.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And Andrea was still trying to find any other possible explanation. As for Megan, Andrea says she was acting like the whole thing never happened.

[Megan Dunlop]

She had this incredible ability to just sort of like, turn the page. It was just kind of like this fever dream, right? Like, you're just like, oh, that, like, weird thing happened, but it's just like, okay, we're all just gonna, like, put it in the corner and maybe if we never talk about it again, like, maybe we don't have to, like, think too hard about it.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The last time Andrea tried to approach her sister about her behavior, they got in a fight.

[Megan Dunlop]

She had stopped talking to me for months. So it's like, I think we all knew by that point that we will lose her if we try and hold her accountable. Like, if we push her on this pregnancy thing, she's gonna stop talking to us.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The family was frozen, unsure about the next move. That's when Megan introduced them to a new guy in her life, Andy.

[Megan Dunlop]

And we thought he was such a stand up guy. And then she just seemed better. And then again, there was just this, like, pretty quick, like, turning of the page, you know, she was still at her job, she's got this boyfriend. And then they got engaged. And then it was like they had this, like, very big, you know, fancy wedding. And we were just like, okay. Like a new chapter.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea was the maid of honor. And Megan's childhood best friend was in the wedding, too.

[Megan Dunlop]

The night before the wedding, we stayed at this beautiful hotel, the Fairmont in Seattle. And her friend brought, like a photo album. And we were like, looking at all these photos from growing up with each other and just like, laughing. And then, you know, the next day we were like, all getting ready in the bridal suite together. And it was just like such a happy moment. And I remember thinking, oh, my sister is back. Like, this is the version of her that I love and the version of her that I remember. She's so happy. And look at her. Everything's gonna be fine now. And like, that Is my last, is my last happy memory with Megan. Because it was not very long after that she got pregnant.

[Andrea Dunlop]

This time it seemed different. Megan was married. The family liked her husband. She even let Andrea come with her to the first ultrasound appointment.

[Megan Dunlop]

There was a tech in there, and I saw the images of it and I remember thinking, like, but is she really pregnant?

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea was guarded.

[Megan Dunlop]

And then on New Year's Eve again, New Year's Eve. So anniversary, I had stayed home. My parents went to their house in California. So they were out of town again. And she went into labor early.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The baby wasn't due for another month.

[Megan Dunlop]

So I went to the hospital again. It was sort of this thing of like, okay, well, I'm here, I'm seeing it. It is really happening. But I remember until I saw the baby, I was like, I don't know. Like, I don't. Like, I don't. I cannot, cannot be sure.

[Andrea Dunlop]

When the baby was finally born, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. The baby was healthy and he was real because he was born over a month early. They kept him in the NICU for.

[Megan Dunlop]

A few weeks and, you know, when he left the hospital, his prognosis was good.

[Andrea Dunlop]

But within the first few months at home, the baby's health took a turn.

[Megan Dunlop]

He immediately started having all these issues and he was having issues around his feeding and developmental milestones. And my sister was talking about it a lot. And it was definitely during this period that, like, something really started to feel like, off off and like, scary off. You know, I have a really vivid memory of being at my parents house with Megan and my nephew and just looking at her and having this really strong feeling of like, she's not there.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea decided to leave New York and move back home. She was working on a novel and she wanted to write it in a quiet, familiar environment. But whenever she saw her sister and her new nephew, Megan only wanted to talk about one her son's health problems.

[Megan Dunlop]

He wasn't gaining weight, and he was diagnosed failure to thrive. He had a nasal feeding tube which goes, you know, nasal gastric, which goes in through the nose down to the stomach.

[Andrea Dunlop]

It felt like almost every week there was another crisis with her son's health.

[Megan Dunlop]

My sister was telling us that the next sort of step in this intervention was to have a surgically implanted feeding tube, a gastric tube in his stomach.

[Andrea Dunlop]

A surgery like this could be scary in any circumstance. The baby was an infant, only one year old. But considering all of Megan's alleged lies, the Dunlop family was on high alert.

[Megan Dunlop]

By this point, my parents and I had been discussing our concerns.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Megan had quit her job at the OB GYN clinic. She wanted to spend every day, all day with her sick baby. He was never out of her sight.

[Megan Dunlop]

For the most part, she would not let people come to the doctor with her. But for some reason, she let my mom come to his gastroenterology appointment.

[Andrea Dunlop]

It was the first time anyone in their family had been allowed to meet the baby's doctor. At the appointment, they discussed this feeding.

[Megan Dunlop]

Tube intervention, and the doctor said, no, we want to hold off on that for now. Let's wait and see. Let's try and keep him on the nasal tube. And obviously, this surgical intervention is not unserious.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea's mom was relieved to hear that her infant grandson didn't need surgery, and she relayed the good news. But then Megan called Andrea with a.

[Megan Dunlop]

Different story, and she said, yeah, the doctor said, you know, they're really pushing me. They're really saying, he needs this surgery. And I knew it was a lie. Why would you want your baby to have a surgery if they didn't need it?

[Andrea Dunlop]

The next day, Andrea's parents wanted to come over and talk in person. That was out of the norm. What?

[Megan Dunlop]

I was like, it's the middle of the day. Like, why is my dad not in the office? And just being like, this is very weird. And then they came in and they sat down with me, and they said, we talked to our family doctor about these concerns. And she said that this sounds like Munchausen by proxy.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Munchausens. It's a very serious pattern of behavior where someone pretends to be sick, even intentionally makes themselves sick. But most dangerous of all, in Munchausen's by proxy, they might make someone else sick, often their own children. They might withhold food, drug their child with dangerous medications they aren't prescribed, or even poison them. Anything to get medical attention, because people with Munchausen have a pathological need for attention and sympathy.

[Megan Dunlop]

It really felt like this moment that, like, sort of split my life in half. I remember thinking, like, oh, my family, like, as I know it, is over.

[Andrea Dunlop]

As the Dunlap family read about Munchausen's and Munchausen's by proxy, it all sounded so familiar, going all the way back to when Megan was a teenager, constantly having knee pain and back pain. Andrea's parents even allege that back then, when Megan claimed to be losing her.

[Megan Dunlop]

Hair, my mom took her to the dermatologist and found out that she was actually shaving it off and lying about.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Was Hard to accept. And Megan had not been formally assessed for Munchausen's. But after decades of witnessing this pattern, Andrea says the family came to their own conclusion. They believed Megan had Munchausens.

[Megan Dunlop]

I mean, there's just so much had piled up. And then we had seen her tell this just, like, very direct lie about the gastric tube.

[Andrea Dunlop]

This time around, there was a baby involved, an innocent child who depended on Megan. Andrea says that changed everything.

[Megan Dunlop]

You have to reframe a person once you realize that they're capable of harming a child. That's a vulnerable little person. And I loved that baby.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The family felt like they could no longer sit back and ignore Megan's behavior, so they decided to intervene.

[Megan Dunlop]

We had to. I mean, it's just like, it didn't seem like there was another option. And my mom, very brave of her, called the gastroenterologist who the appointment she'd been in went in and she told him our concerns. She told him the history of Megan lying about her own stuff, of the pregnancy, fake pregnancy. And he said, well, do you. Do you feel like it's time for an intervention? And she said yes. And she was imagining, like, okay, we're all gonna get together in, like, a hospital conference room and talk about it and try and get, you know, Megan on the straight and narrow. And that's not what he was talking about.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Instead, her report was elevated to the child abuse team at the children's hospital. And when doctors reviewed Megan's files, they were alarmed and they called cps, and.

[Megan Dunlop]

Then they ended up doing an emergency removal.

[Andrea Dunlop]

But according to Andrea, the Dunlap family didn't know the hospital brought in CPS until they got a call from Megan's husband.

[Megan Dunlop]

He called us and was hysterical and distraught. CPS just came and took their son. We were shocked. We did not know that was going to happen. And Megan and Andy very quickly found out that my mother had made that call and were very angry with her.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The whole family was reeling. Did they do the right thing? Well, for context, it took much more than their mom's report to get an emergency removal approved. This action is always a last resort, something that's only done if multiple experts agree that the child is in immediate danger. Even though Andrea and her parents hated this outcome, they said they were acting out of concern for Megan's baby. And finally, it seemed like someone was paying attention.

[Megan Dunlop]

You know, I think we, like, really naively thought, like, well, they're involved. Like the doctors reported, right? The doctors understand this is happening. Someone's gonna do something.

[Andrea Dunlop]

But from the very beginning, Andrea says the emergency removal was mishandled.

[Megan Dunlop]

The placement was a disaster. They placed the baby with my sister's in laws who did not believe that she was abusing him. So they let her see him all the time. And it's very important to keep child separated so that you can see what their health is without the influence of the parent.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And according to Andrea, that wasn't the only mistake.

[Megan Dunlop]

There was no police investigation. There should have been, there should always be.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Instead, CPS investigated the case. When it finally came to the hearing in family court, Megan arrived with an entourage of character witnesses. This is what Andrea remembers from that day.

[Megan Dunlop]

My mom and I went and it was my sister and her husband and his parents and like four of his aunties and his best friend and his best friend's wife and I mean just this like mob of people in this like little room in like the courthouse. Everybody got their chance to talk about how my sister was the most wonderful mother in the world and how could my mother and I ever accuse her? Just like the meanest looks I've ever gotten in my life. Just people looking at us like we were just scum of the earth. It was just so awful. I remember really looking at my brother in law's mom like, come on, you have to see this. Why would we be doing this? We have known her all our lives and she has this like long history. And you know, my sister's just shaking her head and I was just like, oh my God, she's like a cult leader.

[Andy]

Foreign.

[Megan Dunlop]

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[Andrea Dunlop]

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[Megan Dunlop]

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[Andrea Dunlop]

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[Megan Dunlop]

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[California Psychics]

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[Andy]

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[Megan Dunlop]

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[Andy]

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[Andrea Dunlop]

At the end of the family court hearing, the judge ruled with Megan. According to the court documents, the case was closed with an unfounded finding, meaning that quote, available information indicates that more likely than not, child abuse or neglect did not occur or there's insufficient evidence for the department to determine whether the alleged child abuse did or did not occur. And with that, Megan's son was returned to her care.

[Megan Dunlop]

They basically told her, like, ma'am, you need to get some therapy. And just this sort of soft. So it seemed like there was, like, some acknowledgment that things had been happening, but just, like, no understanding of, like, what was actually happening and, like, not a solution.

[Andrea Dunlop]

According to Andrea, Megan cut off the fear family. She says Megan wouldn't return their text or calls.

[Megan Dunlop]

I remember, like, the first Christmas without her was horrible. And you just think, like, could this really be permanent?

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea focused on managing her own mental health and writing her novel. A few months later, her father got a call from Megan's husband, Andy. According to their father, Andrew, Andy wanted to talk about how he'd caught Megan in a lie. Andy said it was over something interpersonal, nothing medical or to do with their kid. But nevertheless, Andy's call was an opening for the Dunlops.

[Megan Dunlop]

And we felt so much relief because he got in touch with my dad. He wanted to talk about this, what had happened. We were like, okay, now he's seen it for his own eyes.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Maybe Andy would see the Dunlop side of things.

[Megan Dunlop]

And he was expressing to us, like, oh, I really want it. You know, I know Megan misses you guys. I want you guys to reconcile. I'm working on it. I'm talking to her. She's just so sad. She feels betrayed, blah, blah, blah. He was still saying, like, oh, she'd never harm her child. She'd never harm her child. And this was this back and forth with my dad.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Over time, it became clear that Andy was standing by Megan today. Andrea believes the real reason he reached out to their dad was for money.

[Megan Dunlop]

He had also realized, as they'd been married for a little bit, the extent of my sister's financial troubles. And so he was also trying to get my dad to, like, help them out financially. You know, My dad was like, yes, I want to help, but you need to send me my grandson's medical records, which seems like a fair trait. And he just absolutely refused to do it. He's like, that's not appropriate. It's not appropriate for you to ask for that.

[Andrea Dunlop]

With that, talks between Andy and the Dunlops fell apart. The door to Megan's life closed again. And it stayed closed for years. In that time, Andrea published her first novel, and she got married herself without her sister at her wedding.

[Megan Dunlop]

I think a lot about, like, if I had stayed in my sister's life and sort of stayed wrapped up in all of this. If I would have been able to have any of those things, because it had taken quite a bit of work to get back to, like, a healthy place after all that happened.

[Andrea Dunlop]

After years of silence from Megan, a mutual friend reached out to Andrea. She shared the shocking news that Megan had another preterm delivery.

[Megan Dunlop]

She went into labor at, like, 24 weeks. That baby died. And she posted a picture of herself with that baby on her social media. So we found out about that. That got back to us. And I remember, like, my mother looked up the death certificate because we weren't really sure whether to believe that, but that that was true. That happened now.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The family was more concerned than ever, but they were still cut off from Megan. Through acquaintances, bits and pieces of information filtered back to the Dunlops. They learned that after she lost the.

[Megan Dunlop]

Baby, right after that, she got pregnant with my niece. So seven months after losing the baby, she has another baby again. At 24 weeks, this baby, Mini, survives but is in the hospital. You know, obviously, a baby born that early is going to be in the.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Hospital for a while after that. The Dunlops didn't hear anything about Megan or her children for several years.

[Megan Dunlop]

That was until a family member reaches out to us. Because my niece is on the, like, you know, hospitals fundraising pages have, like, stories of kids that are sick and are at the hospital a lot, and my niece was on that page.

[Andrea Dunlop]

According to the fundraiser page, Megan's daughter had been in and out of the hospital for her entire life. It was now her second child with severe health complications.

[Megan Dunlop]

And it was like this, you know, laundry list of, like, all the things, all the time. You know, she spent most of her life in the hospital. She's had, you know, this, yes, f these many pokes a day, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Then they found out that Megan had been going public with her story.

[Megan Dunlop]

She'd, like, been in the news, been doing some fundraising here and there. You know, looked been a couple articles about, oh, this mom that has these two children, you know, who have all these issues. At that point, my dad sent a letter to the hospital letting them know about, like, the history, because this was, again, a different hospital than had treated my nephew.

[Andrea Dunlop]

After that, it was silent for a few months. Andrea had just had a baby of her own, and she drew a boundary with her family.

[Megan Dunlop]

And at this point, I really told my parents. I was like, you know, I don't want to hear updates anymore. Like, there's nothing I can do about any of this. It's so upsetting to learn about these things and to see, you know, her in the news and all this stuff. And I was like, I don't want to know until something major happens. Like, I just, I don't want to know anymore.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Soon something major did happen.

[Megan Dunlop]

Not long after that, I got a phone call from my dad saying that he had heard from a police detective and that Megan was being investigated, this time for her younger daughter.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The whole family was relieved. It felt like their nightmare was about to finally come to an end, especially when the police shared that they had video evidence of Megan in a hospital room with her daughter.

[Megan Dunlop]

They caught her disposing of anticoagulant medication that her daughter was supposed to get, like covering it on the bedsheets. And then her daughter got a life threatening blood clot and ended up in the picu. I think at that point we thought, okay, like, not in a vindictive way, but they're going to get her. Like, they've got it. They have such strong evidence.

[Andrea Dunlop]

We've seen a copy of this police report. And the investigation went on for two years. During this time, Megan did not have custody of the children. The whole family waited anxiously for updates on the case. Meanwhile, Andrea focused on her career.

[Megan Dunlop]

My third novel, We Came Here to Forget, published, and that novel is based very heavily on my experiences with my sister. And so I did some press around the book like before the book came out. So this is the first time that I'd ever publicly talked about my sister. You know, I was very like, careful and guarded sort of with what I said, you know, So I was talking about that family connection in the lead up to this book. And four days before the publication of that book, I was on my way to a friend's wedding, was in the car with my husband and one of my best friends, and I got an email from my sister's attorney. It was a cease and desist, asking me to retract my statements to Vanity Fair, cancel the publication of my book, cancel my book tour.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Megan's lawyers called Andrea's work textbook defamation and alleged that Andrea has a bizarre obsession with Megan. They said that if Andrea insinuates in any way that her sister committed Munchausen syndrome by proxy or medical child abuse, those statements are false and they are defamatory. And at the end of the cease and desist, Megan's lawyer dropped a bombshell.

[Megan Dunlop]

He included an excerpt from the family court judge who had just returned custody of my sister's children to her. So that is how I Found out that information charges were never filed against her. I later followed up with that office to find out why in the face of such strong evidence, including, you know, like a medical record review of these 73,000 pages of medical records that my 5 year old niece had at that time.

[Andrea Dunlop]

The deputy prosecuting attorney on the case concluded, concluded that, quote, we could not envision a way to prevail on criminal charges at trial to the point where we can prove beyond reasonable doubt. Megan went on to reach out to local and national news outlets. She wanted to share her side of the story where, according to her, she is repeatedly being falsely accused of medical child abuse. In one interview, Megan said, quote, I've always done everything in my power to take care of my children, yet now I was being treated with suspicion. Megan's cease and desist didn't silence Andrea. Instead it lit a fire under her because she believes what her sister is doing is medical child abuse.

[Megan Dunlop]

And yeah, that is how I got here.

[Andrea Dunlop]

She started seeking out a community of people who understand Munchausens.

[Megan Dunlop]

During that time, I met Dr. Mark Feldman, who is this tremendous expert who I've become very close with, who is a psychiatrist who's been, you know, studying Munchausen by proxy for decades. And then I became interested in how I could be useful to this cause.

[Andrea Dunlop]

She went to a conference on Munchausen's hosted by the American Professional Society on the abuse of Children. And there, for the first time, she met other people who had the same story as her family.

[Megan Dunlop]

That was the first time I'd ever heard from another family member who'd been through a case. And it's just like completely changed the direction of my life and my career.

[Andrea Dunlop]

And the way she wanted to help was to tell their stories.

[Megan Dunlop]

I'm a storyteller. That's what I have skill set in. Obviously at that time it was writing, but I was getting interested in podcasting and just thought, because I was a big podcast listener and loved the medium and was like, oh, this is a true crime podcast.

[Andrea Dunlop]

So in 2020, she started developing a show of her own.

[Megan Dunlop]

By and large, like, people don't know what this is. They don't understand it. There's a lot of misconceptions. I was like, well, this is something like I can be helpful with. I know the media because I was a publicist, a writer. I can tell these stories. Didn't want to present myself as some kind of like, objective journalist that's just like, found this topic interesting, right? This would be totally disingenuous.

[Andrea Dunlop]

She Started with one case that struck a accord.

[Megan Dunlop]

One of the stories I really connected with as I was learning that there were other stories, right, about this was a Hopiybara case because it had all of these similarities to my family's case in that Hope Ybarra had been this very intelligent, very promising woman, and she also had this family that had been very close and really took the same series of events where, like, they, you know, uncovered some of Hope's very large deceptions. And then her mother became concerned about her granddaughter and called one of the granddaughter's doctors.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea saw strong parallels between Hope's case and Megan's.

[Megan Dunlop]

Hope had also had a fake pregnancy. It had also been twin girls. It was just these things where I was like, are they talking to each other? I mean, like, just where you feel. And I get this feeling all the time looking at cases where you feel like there is this just playbook, right? The pattern of abuse is so strong. The premature births, the feeding interventions, like this. The strong, strong pattern. And so I felt so drawn to.

[Andrea Dunlop]

This story, and Hope's family was ready to tell their story, too.

[Megan Dunlop]

So I ended up interviewing, you know, her husband, Fabian, and then her father Paul, her sister, her younger sister Robyn, the very, very first interview I ever did, and then her brother Nick. You know, we ended up going down to Fort Worth to meet with their family. And I just loved them so much. I mean, they were just the sweetest people, and they clearly had really loved Hope. And especially, I mean, you know, talking to Robyn, who was the younger sister, just like that. We'd had such a similar experience. It was just an extraordinary kind of journey to go on, because you're just like, oh, my God. I've never talked to another person that's ever been through anything like this. And then you're talking to a person who's had the exact same experience. It is profound.

[Andrea Dunlop]

In 2022, Andrea launched her podcast, Nobody Should Believe me.

[Megan Dunlop]

Yeah. And then the show, to a hugely unexpected degree, took off.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Andrea just finished her fifth season. Each season features a different family like hers, and her work didn't stop there.

[Megan Dunlop]

I founded Munchausen Support, which is the only nonprofit in the country that is dedicated to specifically to supporting families and survivors who are dealing with this abuse and also helping professionals.

[Andrea Dunlop]

After all the work she's done and the many years that have gone by, she still hasn't reconnected with her sister. Megan declined to comment for Andrea's podcast. In fact, Megan is still talking to the media, claiming that she's being falsely accused of medical child abuse. And Andy is still sticking by Megan's side. He says she does not have munchausens by proxy. Andy regularly posts comments online stating that Andrea is just playing the victim. He's said that she's making false claims and allegations for profit. But for Andrea, her work was never about making a profit. More than anything, Andrea wants her work to reach her niece and nephew.

[Megan Dunlop]

I think a lot about what my sister's future might look like if her kids grow up and leave. And certainly I hope that someday I will hear from her children. I really did all of this because of them. And part of what we're up to at Munchausen, Support and building some kind of resources for survivors and really thinking about ways in which we can help survivors is also like, I built that for them.

[Andrea Dunlop]

In February 2025, Andrea published her first nonfiction book. It's called the mother next door. She wrote it with detective Mike Weber, A police investigator who spent his career working on medical child abuse cases.

[Megan Dunlop]

The book, I mean, that actually is a more natural medium for me because I am a writer, written four novels, and I loved being able to put the cases so in context, Put them in some cultural context, Put them in a context of, like, this is a pattern. This is a. You know, this is a crime that, like, you can recognize and name and teach people how to deal with and just being able to give some kind of sort of proactive advice. And I think my message I always want people to take away Is that this can happen to anyone. This is not race specific. This is not class specific. This is something that happens, you know, in other countries, and it oftentimes, you know, some of the perpetrators seem like weirdos, But a lot of them seem like really nice, normal moms, Just like the mom on the pta.

[Andrea Dunlop]

All of Andrea's work is guided by her understanding of her sister and the impact she says it's had on their family. After two investigations into Megan yielded no convictions, the Dunlops are left only with their truth. There isn't a clear next step for justice or action. So instead, Andrea is sharing the signs, exposing the patterns, and building a community in hopes of making a change.

[Megan Dunlop]

I have some sympathy for family members that get caught up in this and end up supporting the perpetrators. Because I've been there, I know how hard that is to accept that someone you love is capable of this. Just saying to accept that anybody is capable of this, I think is so, so hard. We're just all trying to, like, chip away until there's, like, a sort of breaking the damn moment. And so that's sort of how I think about it. And just like every win, you hold on to every win. If the show reaches someone that needed to hear it that day, you know, which I know these things have happened because I just, I hear from so many people, and then they end up reporting or trying to intervene. And it's not acceptable to remain in denial because the person who suffers for that is the child who has no voice, who has no say, who is depending on those family members to recognize it and to intervene.

[Andrea Dunlop]

We end all of our episodes with the same question. Why do you want to tell your story?

[Megan Dunlop]

I have a really strong core belief that stories are the best way to learn and to move people on an issue. There's so much noise and so much distraction, and people are not convinced by evidence. They're not convinced by facts. And we live in this time of too much information. So I think like, the human element of a story is like, that's where we connect to things. That's what cuts out the noise. And I think that stories can help us feel less alone. And especially if there's something where it's incredibly high taboo, there's a high degree of shame where it's this thing that's just in the darkness. I think the only antidote to that is bringing it to light.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Next week, we're bringing you another bonus episode with Andrea Dunlop. This time it's a conversation between her and I about true crime podcasting. It's a deep dive and I think you're gonna like it. As you know, we're finished with this season of Betrayal Weekly. We'll be back on May 22nd with season four of betrayal. It's a whole new story told over a few weeks, just like Ashley's, Jen and Stacy's. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email [e-mail] that's betrayalpodmail.com we're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Monique Laborde, also produced by Ben Federman. Associate producers are Kristen Melchiori, and Kaitlyn Golden. Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krynczyk. Audio editing and mixing By Matt Delvec Yo Additional editing support from Tanner Robbins. Betrayal's Theme composed by Oliver Baines Music Library provided by MIB Music and for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[California Psychics]

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[Andrea Dunlop]

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[Andy]

Who's paying for the mattress topper?

[Andrea Dunlop]

You mean the beanbag chair?

[Andy]

Aren't we getting a mini fridge?

[Andrea Gunning]

Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy.

[Andy]

Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Andrea Dunlop]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool Split and Send Money with PayPal get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.