Pseudocyesis, Psychosis, & Social Media

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Unborn Hosted by iHeartPodcasts
Release Date: November 19, 2024

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Introduction

The Unborn delves deep into the seemingly idyllic life of Jared and Kristy Akron, a couple admired by their small-town Pennsylvania community. Beneath their perfect exterior—a recent wedding, a new home, and the anticipation of twins—lies a web of deception, mental turmoil, and dark secrets. The podcast unravels Jared's journey as he uncovers unsettling truths about Kristy, leading to a chilling exploration of pseudocyesis (false pregnancy) and its profound impact on their lives.

Plot Overview

Jared and Kristy Akron epitomize the perfect couple. However, Jared begins to notice inconsistencies and cracks in their relationship and Kristy's behavior. Kristy's erratic actions, including secretive doctor visits and unexplained late-night activities, raise Jared's suspicions. As he investigates further, Jared discovers that Kristy's pregnancy may not be real, plunging him into a labyrinth of psychological and emotional turmoil.

Key Characters

• Jared Akron: The protagonist who starts questioning the facade of his perfect life. His determination to uncover the truth drives the narrative forward.

• Kristy Akron: Jared's wife whose strange behaviors hint at deeper psychological issues, including pseudocyesis.

• Carla Jenkins: A guest on the podcast who shares her personal experience with pseudocyesis, providing valuable insights into the condition.

• Dr. Richard Farnham: A board-certified OB-GYN and specialist in urogynecology, offering a clinical perspective on pseudocyesis and related disorders.

Understanding Pseudocyesis

The podcast dedicates significant time to exploring pseudocyesis, a rare psychosomatic disorder where an individual believes they are pregnant despite the absence of a fetus. Dr. Richard Farnham explains, “[pseudocyesis] is where someone believes they're pregnant and actually manifest the symptoms and signs of pregnancy” (08:17). This condition affects approximately four women in every 22,000 pregnancies and is often linked to underlying trauma or psychological distress.

Carla Jenkins' Story

Carla Jenkins shares her firsthand experience with pseudocyesis, highlighting the emotional and physical challenges she faced. “I was very upset with my body because of the fact that my brain understood that there was no fetus, but my body just kept going,” she recounts (12:58). Her story underscores the profound disconnect between mind and body in such conditions and emphasizes the importance of emotional support during diagnosis and treatment.

Jared’s Discovery and the Collapse of Reality

Jared’s suspicions lead him to confront the reality of Kristy’s supposed pregnancy. Initially believing Kristy's symptoms, Jared is devastated to learn that there were no children born or died, as Kristy had maintained. This revelation is encapsulated when Jared states, “there were no children to claim or to bury because his wife was never pregnant” (02:56).

As Jared delves deeper, assisted by his friend Molly, he uncovers that Kristy has been deceiving everyone around her. They attempt exhaustive methods to trace the source of fabricated sonogram images, but their efforts prove futile. “We did a reverse image search on those pictures and we could not find them,” Jared admits (30:34).

Psychological Depth and Potential Disorders

Dr. Farnham discusses the possible psychological underpinnings of Kristy’s behavior, suggesting severe borderline personality disorder as a plausible explanation. He elaborates, “she’s so split from the other part of her that she believes she’s pregnant and carrying these children” (18:20). This disjointed self contributes to Kristy's ability to maintain the illusion of pregnancy while orchestrating elaborate deceptions.

The Climax: A Sinister Revelation

The tension escalates when a grandmother reports that a woman, dressed in scrubs, removed babies from the nursery, leading to a police investigation. This shocking turn implicates Kristy in a potential crime of baby snatching, further complicating the narrative and blurring the lines between psychological distress and criminal intent.

Expert Insights

Dr. Farnham provides a comprehensive analysis of pseudocyesis and related psychological disorders. He emphasizes the need for a holistic approach in treatment, integrating mental health into primary care to address both physiological and psychological components (35:13). His insights shed light on the complexities of treating such rare conditions and the importance of understanding individual patient backgrounds.

Conclusion

The Unborn presents a gripping tale of love, deception, and psychological struggle. Jared’s relentless pursuit of the truth about Kristy’s pregnancy uncovers not only personal betrayals but also highlights the intricate relationship between mind and body in psychosomatic disorders. The podcast leaves listeners questioning the boundaries between reality and illusion, and the lengths to which individuals may go to protect their crafted lives.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jared Akron: “There were no children to claim or to bury because my wife was never pregnant.” (02:56)

• Carla Jenkins: “It was just very shocking that my body, like, didn't clue in to the fact that there was no baby forming.” (12:58)

• Dr. Richard Farnham: “The mind is a very powerful thing, and we don’t usually focus enough on a holistic approach of integrating mental health into primary care.” (07:52)

• Jared Akron: “It was like, where does that go? How can you pass off those pictures as your own?” (31:07)

• Dr. Richard Farnham: “Some people that don’t have as much insight... would be a much more difficult patient to treat.” (13:54)

• Jared Akron: “Police swarmed the hospital when this was reported. It is a full-blown psych disorder.” (43:57)

Timestamps Reference

For ease of navigation, here are the key timestamps referenced in the summary:

• 02:56 – Jared discovers no children were born.
• 07:52 – Dr. Farnham discusses the power of the mind in pseudocyesis.
• 08:17 – Definition and explanation of pseudocyesis.
• 12:58 – Carla reflects on her body not recognizing the loss.
• 13:54 – Dr. Farnham on patient insight and treatment challenges.
• 18:20 – Dr. Farnham suggests borderline personality disorder aspects in Kristy.
• 30:34 – Jared and Molly’s failed attempts to trace sonogram images.
• 31:07 – Jared expresses frustration over fabricated pictures.
• 35:13 – Dr. Farnham on integrating mental health in treatment.
• 43:57 – Jared reveals the police investigation into Kristy’s actions.

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The Unborn masterfully intertwines personal narratives with expert insights, offering a comprehensive look into the complexities of pseudocyesis and its repercussions on relationships and mental health. Through Jared and Kristy’s story, listeners are invited to explore the fragile boundaries between truth and illusion, and the devastating impact of psychological disorders when left unaddressed.

Transcript

[Tricia LaFach]

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[Jared]

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That's L E E S A.com Jared spent hours trying to get someone from the hospital on the phone. He was angry, convinced his wife had no right to decide what should happen to their children's remains without any input from him, he was ready to give them a piece of his. When a hospital administrator finally called him back, he began to tell her exactly what he thought, and to his surprise, she agreed with him. Except for one thing. There were no children to claim or to bury because his wife was never pregnant.

[Jared]

After the AOC had called me on the hospital line and told me, your wife was never pregnant, there were no children that were born or died about I would say 45 minutes later, I get a phone call from a cell phone number.

[Tricia LaFach]

It was the same hospital administrator who Jared spoke to calling a second time to check on him and make sure he understood the information she provided.

[Jared]

Can you just say that again? She goes, yes, your wife was never pregnant. There were no children born nor die on that day. She called it. I don't know, the scientific term the.

[Tricia LaFach]

Term Jared is referring to is pseudoscience. Pseudoscience or false pregnancy is when a person believes they're pregnant when they're not. It's also called a phantom pregnancy. They may have all of the physical signs and symptoms of being pregnant, but there is no fetus in the uterus.

[Jared]

And she kind of went into. It's a rare case when it happens, but it is possible where a woman's body can believe that she is with child. Look, act, feel the whole nine yards.

[Tricia LaFach]

Jared had never heard of this before. In fact, most people have it.

[Jared]

Doctors don't know why. I did ask some technical questions, like, why does it happen? Is this something I do? They're like, no, there's nothing that you could have seen or known to a t acts like a pregnant woman. They're not.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy initially told Jared that she was detained by the hospital police and escorted out in handcuffs because of a warrant issued in her name due to an unpaid speeding ticket. But that wasn't true. Christy may have had a warrant for an unpaid speeding ticket, but that wasn't the reason she was detained.

[Jared]

So from what I learned was basically the reason she was escorted out to the by two police officers was that she was hanging around the maternity ward and the nurses suspected her that she may try to take a kid, like kidnap a baby.

[Tricia LaFach]

I'm Tricia LaFach. I'm a writer, director, actor, and federal criminal defense attorney. I'm going to tell you a story that's all too real about love, lies, and the lengths people will go to for attention. It's a story that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about truth, about reality, and about what happens when the two collide in the most unimaginable way. From Audio up and Je Suis Press Productions, this is the unborn pseudo psyesis. It affects approximately four women in every 22,000 pregnancies.

[Jared]

From the research that I've done and talked to the nurses and things like that, they say it can happen, but once they have to see an ultrasound and there's nothing there, that's when it kind of breaks. And they're like, okay.

[Tricia LaFach]

But what is extremely rare is when a woman like Christy goes full term with a false pregnancy. In fact, we spoke to multiple medical health professionals, emergency room doctors, obstetricians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and none of them had ever seen a woman go to full term.

[Jared]

Rarely do they go full term. That doctor had not seen another one of those. And I'm still thinking back, like, why does this happen to me? I mean, I didn't do anyone any wrong. And here we are.

[Tricia LaFach]

A doctor could practice their entire career. In fact, they could practice 10 careers and never see one of these. That's how rare the condition is.

[Jared]

My name is Richard Farnham.

[Tricia LaFach]

I'm a medical doctor, board certified, obgyn and subspecialist in urogynecology with a practice in El Paso, Texas, up with an academic affiliation at Texas Tech.

[Jared]

Pseudocysis is where someone believes they're pregnant.

[Tricia LaFach]

And in fact, they have physiologic changes that would accompany the normal signs of pregnancy. They can get abdominal bloating, they can have fatigue, they can have nipple discharge. They have the sense that there are fetal movements. To the casual observer, they appear pregnant. They have a distended abdomen, like they're carrying a baby. They truly believe that they're pregnant. And it can actually be very difficult for them, even when they're confronted with the medical evidence that shows that they're actually not pregnant. We wanted to present a clinical perspective of what someone suffering from pseudocyesis may be experiencing. So we spoke to Dr. Julia Baird, who was a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles. She did not treat Christy. She's never met Christy, but she specializes in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders like pseudoscience and has treated women suffering from pseudoscience in the course of her practice. Dr. Baird's approach to treating patients has an emphasis on healing the whole person, mind, body, and spirit.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

I think the mind is a very powerful thing, and I think we don't. We don't usually focus enough on a more like, holistic approach of integrating mental health into just, even just primary care, general medical treatments.

[Tricia LaFach]

Pseudocyesis is a psychosomatic disorder, meaning it has a heavy mind component, but it manifests physically in the body.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

It's a false belief that there's a pregnancy and you actually manifest the symptoms and signs of pregnancy. So these people will actually feel nauseous, have morning sickness, their periods will stop, lactation will happen. All the symptoms of pregnancy can develop, but there is no actual pregnancy that's ever confirmed. So the ultrasound shows no pregnancy. Pregnancy tests are false, but yet they look pregnant, and they're having all kinds of symptoms as if they're pregnant.

[Tricia LaFach]

It's one thing to understand something clinically, but what was actually going through Christy's mind and body to understand? We spoke to Carla, a woman who experienced pseudocyesis directly.

[Carla Jenkins]

Carla Jenkins. I am someone who has experienced pseudocyesis.

[Tricia LaFach]

Much like Jared and Christy. Carla and her partner had only Been together for a few months when they found out they were pregnant.

[Carla Jenkins]

Alex and I didn't think that we could have kids. He's been through, like, some chemo years ago. So we were really, really surprised that we even got pregnant. It wasn't purposeful. It just kind of happened. It was a very big deal to us because of the fact that, you know, we were both kind of in shock about it.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla had already missed two periods when they made the appointment with an ob. So on her first visit, she was given an ultrasound.

[Carla Jenkins]

Got an appointment with my ob. We were at already, like, nine weeks. We meet with our OB before we go in to meet with him. They do, like, an internal ultrasound, which is what they would do typically at that time, just to see if there's a heartbeat, and they couldn't find one.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla was experiencing a phantom pregnancy, and she didn't know why. She still doesn't. There aren't a lot of answers. Partly because the condition is so rare in this country. A fact confirmed by Dr. Baird.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Yes. Yeah, it's very rare in the U.S. it's actually more common in developing countries where a woman's fertility is really an important part of, like, her value as a woman. So you see a lot more of this in more developing countries where if they are not able to get pregnant and produce children, they feel that they're not valuable and maybe perhaps, like, their partner would not stay with them in other ways.

[Tricia LaFach]

Making things more complicated is the fact that even the doctors who treat pseudoscience aren't entirely sure what causes it.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

There's a number of different kind of theories about what causes pseudoscience. I think what's important to note is that typically you have to look at the individual and kind of think, what is this serving for this particular patient? So a lot of times it's women that struggle with infertility or women that are coming to the end of their fertility window and are realized, I never had a child, and I really want a child. There's some kind of underlying reason that they need to believe that they're pregnant. Also, you know, looking at the research about pseudocyesis, and there's not a lot, by the way, there's this association with sometimes trauma, particularly loss. So not just loss of fertility, but like loss of a child or even loss of a relationship, loss of a parent. There is this need sometimes to. When you lose somebody that you're close to, wanting to recreate a relationship or be close to somebody or have some kind of, you know, relationship to replace that one so there is this association with trauma.

[Tricia LaFach]

So since pseudocyesis is caused by trauma, I assume Carla's doctors would offer her resources to support her.

[Carla Jenkins]

Yeah, in terms of the emotional support piece of it, it seemed like that wasn't the focus at that time. And obviously I was like, you know, started crying really hard and was super emotional about the whole thing. And so is my partner. He made it very scientific, which was upsetting for me. I think we. There's a little bit of, I guess, like, resentment. But he wasn't as warm as I would expect, like, an OB to be in a situation like that.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla immediately accepted in her mind that she was not pregnant. And her body, in her own words, had just not caught up.

[Carla Jenkins]

It was just very shocking that my body, like, didn't clue in to the fact that there was no baby forming. Like, why wouldn't our bodies recognize that?

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla believed the doctors that there was no fetus in her uterus. But that's not always true for everyone, Dr. Baird.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Again, I think it depends on how much insight, awareness the individual has. Like, can they look at the reasons why they developed this disorder and what purpose it was serving for them? Are they able to talk about and process whatever trauma or loss or underlying reason that they developed this type of disorder? I think that's really what matters. Some people that don't have as much insight and can't really acknowledge what's going on, that would be a much more difficult patient to treat, but someone that can really process and look at the underlying kind of, you know, motivations for developing this disorder that's a treatable individual.

[Tricia LaFach]

Additionally, pseudocyesis doesn't function in a vacuum.

[Carla Jenkins]

Yeah. I mean, I think from that perspective of realizing that there was. I definitely understood that there was a disconnect, and I was very disappointed in my body. Like, I was very upset with my body because of the fact that my brain understood that there was no fetus, but my body just kept, like, there was no connection to the two, which is insane for some women.

[Tricia LaFach]

Even after it's unequivocally clear that they are not pregnant, it's still hard for them to accept that they never were.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Because I think if you get to the point of, like, there's somebody that can't acknowledge that this is not real. That's almost more of this psychotic kind of delusional disorder.

[Tricia LaFach]

Much like other mental health disorders, it exists on a spectrum with other mood and personality disorders.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Definitely depression, anxiety, borderline personality, for sure. I think, once again, if we look at what's the theme with borderline personality is the fear of abandonment or loss. So somebody with borderline is definitely more likely to develop something like pseudoscience as a way to maybe cope with loss and not feel loss or abandonment.

[Tricia LaFach]

Can you explain briefly the difference between bipolar disorder and borderline disorder?

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Yeah, so bipolar is a mood lability disorder, somebody that experiences like periods of mania and then severe depression. They need a mood stabilizer to really be able and borderline is more of a It's a personality disorder. They are kind of see the world in black and white, all good, all bad, everything split. The idealization. Like they have this fear of losing that person that they've idealized. The object, the relationship, the individual that's so ideal that they feel they can't live without. But then eventually that person disappoints them and then they become devalued. So they go from being on a pedestal to being Holiday magic is in.

[Carla Jenkins]

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[Dr. Richard Farnham]

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[Carla Jenkins]

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[Tricia LaFach]

Or dsw.com this show is sponsored by BetterHelp and I want to help you by reminding you to take a second to say thank you to someone in your life that you're grateful for. Could be your partner, your parent, your pet, or even your therapist. And also to thank yourself, which is a hard thing to do and easy to forget, for doing the things that you want to do and the things you don't want to do, which may include going to therapy. I recently restarted therapy, so I'm going to give myself a big thank you for that. One of the most rewarding parts of therapy is talking to someone who's completely objective, whose feelings you don't have to manage, who you don't have to worry about, what they'll think of you. If you're interested in starting or restarting therapy, I would encourage you to check out BetterHelp. It's all online so you don't even have to leave your house. All you have to do is fill out a questionnaire to get matched up with a licensed therapist and you can switch therapists at any time at no additional charge. Let the gratitude flow with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com unborn today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com/unborn. It's just one more thing you can thank yourself for.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Shit.

[Tricia LaFach]

It was at this point that I shared with Dr. Baird the specifics about Christy's case. Prior to now, I had not shared with her the specific details, including that Christy went to the hospital to give birth. She was shocked, to say the least.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

I mean, this. Yeah, this. I think it's interesting, though, because she knew what she was doing then. Almost borders on more of, like, a factitious disorder, perhaps because she knows that she's deceiving. Unless there's this split off part of her that.

[Tricia LaFach]

Is that possible?

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Yeah, it is. I think with somebody who's very borderline. So the split. There's a split off part of her that is acting and doing these things. That part of her is so split from the other part of her that's believing she's pregnant and carrying these children. And so those parts of her don't live in this integrated whole person. They're split into almost two separate people.

[Tricia LaFach]

Factitious disorder is when a patient intentionally falsifies medical or psychiatric symptoms similar to Munchausen or Munchausen by proxy. But Dr. Barrett is also posing the possibility that Christy is severely bifurcated or split, which would mean that only part of her is intentionally deceptive, while the other part believes she's actually pregnant.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Yes, I need to. Like, that's another aspect of her that's not integrated into the part of her that's posting online. So these are two split parts, really, of her. I mean, that's. That's a severe borderline for you. Who's that fragmented? Who? Yeah, it's split off. We all do this to some degree. Like, we have different parts of ourselves. Right. But we're not so split that they don't exist. When there's one part that, you know, like, we all have different aspects of our personality, but usually we're more integrated. So that, like, the part of us that acts a certain way at the grocery store while in line is the same as the part of you that's like a professional in the office. I mean, that, to me, seems like what was going. Because I'm like, if it's factitious, then what's her point? You know, what's the point of just, like, you know, deceiving everybody? Somebody that splits so much and splits off parts of you, they never have to be confronted in a way Right. And if you bring it to her, she'll be like, what? No, that's not. I don't know what you're talking about. You know? Yeah, and the body goes along with it.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy's body carried her phantom pregnancy to the scheduled due date. Nine months of a powerful mind body connection. Was there anything that could have given away that she wasn't pregnant? In spite of my in depth quizzing, Jared didn't think so. Did she get a period?

[Jared]

Not that I know of.

[Tricia LaFach]

Did she have breast tenderness or breast enlargement?

[Jared]

She complained about it. Probably didn't last three months.

[Tricia LaFach]

How about abdominal enlargement?

[Jared]

Yep. Looked like a beach ball.

[Tricia LaFach]

How about nausea?

[Jared]

It was terrible. The first trimester. Run to the bathroom every five minutes.

[Tricia LaFach]

How about weight gain?

[Jared]

It was quick in the face at first is what I noticed was her face got very round. But then it started going to the abdomen and that was kind of all I noticed.

[Tricia LaFach]

How about having to pee frequently?

[Jared]

All the time. It was even more constant than being sick.

[Tricia LaFach]

Really.

[Jared]

Pull over. I gotta go to the bathroom. Find the next gas station. And I mean, we would only go 15 minute trips, right? We have to stop and go to the bathroom. I'm like, I've never seen anyone else have to go to the bathroom.

[Tricia LaFach]

How about food cravings?

[Jared]

Ice cream? Dairy Queen. I don't know how many times I'd go dairy queen at 10 o'clock at night. She always wanted to get one of those snickerdoodle blizzards. It's a. I don't know, it's just overpriced ice cream with candy in it.

[Tricia LaFach]

Was Christy complaining about pain in her sciatic nerve during her pregnancy?

[Jared]

Yes. I mean, it was so bad that she had to go to a specialist massage lady for pregnant ladies twice a week.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy checked off each box.

[Carla Jenkins]

Her breasts were even leaking milk. It was.

[Jared]

Everything was crazy of how it was happening.

[Tricia LaFach]

Jenny, Christy's former best friend, also witnessed the ways that pseudocyesis affected Kristi physically.

[Carla Jenkins]

Whenever Jared's mom said, your belly dropped, when I tell you it literally looked like it dropped, it dropped.

[Tricia LaFach]

The hospital staff was so concerned about Christy's behavior on the ward that they decided to check her Facebook page. And they agree with Jared and Jenny and everyone else we talked to. Christy looked pregnant.

[Jared]

So the aoc, while we were on the phone, she also told me that they had looked at her Facebook. They saw that I tagged her in, that they saw the pictures. They had seen the picture of the placard with the McGee. What do they call them? Onesies they saw that it was posted by me, tagged her in it. All these people saw it. They had saw that she looked pregnant. All these pictures, like those maternity pictures. Yes, and she informed me of that. And she didn't look like the same person when she walked out of that hospital.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy didn't look like the same person when she was escorted out of the hospital in handcuffs.

[Jared]

Like, it was gone. It was like you pump up the beach ball and it gets a hole in it and it's just empty.

[Tricia LaFach]

Jenny also noticed after the births, Christie's pregnant belly disappeared.

[Carla Jenkins]

Whenever we were at the rental house, there was no sign of a belly, just her regular body fat.

[Tricia LaFach]

This piece of information was shocking to me, even though I have no idea why it would be after everything else Jared has told me. But it was. I had questions. Did Christy's belly deflate because she believed she gave birth, or did her belly deflate as a result of the confrontation she had in the hospital that led to her being escorted out in handcuffs by two police officers?

[Jared]

I mean, when you're looking at these pictures we have in front of us, I mean, it's like, where does that go?

[Tricia LaFach]

Hospital administration checked Christy's Facebook page and learned that she had spent the last nine months living as a pregnant woman. Here's some of the posts they would have seen. This is me reading Christie's posts to Jared. Picture of baby clothes and some stuffed animals are two signs. One reads, adding a bit more love. The other reads, coming soon. Comments beneath read, congratulations.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Can't wait.

[Tricia LaFach]

So excited.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

So happy for you two.

[Tricia LaFach]

We are over the moon. Christie's aunt writes, hello, Christy.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

I did not know you were pregnant.

[Tricia LaFach]

Wonderful. Do you know what you're having?

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

And the expected date?

[Tricia LaFach]

You look beautiful.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

Lots of love, Aunt Kelly.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy responds, I'm pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. My due date, it is December 7th, but they won't let me go past November 21st. It's been a long time since seeing you. Miss you. Here's a post of Christie's from June 10, 2020. A picture of Christy's pregnant belly and a chalkboard reading, Akron babies 10 weeks, measuring 3.2 cm and 2.9 cm. Size of kumquats. It doesn't stop there. June 27, a picture of Christy's pregnant belly and a chalkboard reading, Akron baby's 13 weeks. Size of plums. Another picture of Christy's pregnant belly with the caption, big growing stage for the babies. Babies have popped off mom's sciatic nerve. Finally, in all caps and have moved so much better. Jared was clearly uncomfortable with hearing some of this anger.

[Jared]

I mean, lots of it. Just hearing her when you're saying it, all I hear is her voice remembering taking all those pictures. The time wasted, the lies, the sequel.

[Tricia LaFach]

Finally, we have a picture of a very pregnant Christie sitting on the floor of a super adorable nursery, looking at her watch with her mouth agape. Sign reads me, I'm exhausted. Apple watch. You have taken nine steps today. Hashtag almost done. All caps. Did you build this nursery?

[Jared]

Yes. I'd probably have to say that it was that. I know that all that time in my life is wasted. Nothing was what was genuine and true. And then that's. Looking back on it. I feel like I wasted that time, and I know I'm not gonna get it back. But just hearing that again kind of threw me for a curveball because I haven't thought of those words until you read them up.

[Tricia LaFach]

Jared talked to me about the last photo shoot they did in the nursery. That did not go particularly smoothly.

[Jared]

That was a disaster.

[Tricia LaFach]

Why?

[Jared]

I bet you we had a half hour wrapped up in taking that picture. Fixing a pegboard. Oh, I don't like the lighting. Oh, my belly looks weird. I'm like, it's. It's a picture. It's. Yes, you have them forever, but if you're that worried about what other people perceive and, oh, it's not a perfect picture. Are you looking for that picturesque life? But there had to be every bit of 100 pictures I'd take.

[Tricia LaFach]

Yeah.

[Jared]

At the end of it, I'm just like, okay, let me hold the shutter. So it just takes a couple hundred at a time.

[Tricia LaFach]

And there was something about posting to social media that made Christy change.

[Jared]

It was like a flip of a switch. Okay, let me just stare at my phone for the rest of the day. Tomorrow. There was no okay. Yeah, I posted it for people to see. Yes, I understand that part. But to obsess over. Oh, look, they like this picture. Someone commented. I'm like, great. I just. That. That doesn't appeal to me. It's a waste of my time to sit there. She would fall asleep playing on her phone.

[Tricia LaFach]

Christy and Jared did not get the same high off posting on social media. And he believes that the thrills and attention she received from posting as a pregnant woman played a big part in what was going on with her.

[Jared]

Take a picture of my belly. It doesn't look big enough. At this point, I'm just like, all right, I hold the shutter button where it takes a couple hundred every second. I'm like, here you go, pick one out. Because she wanted, she was so into that. In that chalkboard, there was a chalkboard, she wrote like, X amount of weeks. I'm like, you know what, we'll just do it. Do the shutters. You can take your picture. Made her happy. But she was, she was all into putting it all over social media. Like, wanted that attention, wanted that, oh, look, you're having twins. You're not just pregnant with one, it's twins. And I think that goes into kind of feeding that psychosis that she was in.

[Tricia LaFach]

Nine months of Post after post after post. And then on December 10, 2020, comes the paramount post. Christy has Jared post a picture of two babies she was passing off as theirs. And Jared felt complicit.

[Jared]

Well, how did you get that board? I made that pegboard into this picture. Or did you just pull some picture off the Internet, Photoshop this in there, send it to me, make me look like an ass on Facebook. After you wrote everything you told me to put in there, right?

[Tricia LaFach]

She sent you the caption, correct?

[Jared]

The entire thing. I didn't put anything in there.

[Tricia LaFach]

Copy and paste, copy and paste it. Almost four years later, and Jared still has no idea where Christy got the photographs that she asked him to post announcing the arrival of their twins.

[Jared]

I mean, you look at those photos after I find out, okay, you didn't give birth. Where in the hell did you get that picture from? Those were McGee Hospital onesies. Did you find that on the Internet? Did you take that in person?

[Tricia LaFach]

Jared was not alone in his quest to find out where Christy found those babies. His best friend Molly was determined to find out.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

My dad had called me at work and had told me that this is all a sham. And I was very upset and angry. And so I was convinced that I was going to prove that she was a liar. I was at work at the time and I had my two associates with me. We were on Google for the rest of our four hour shift trying to find the picture of the babies.

[Jared]

We did a reverse image search on those pictures and we could not find them. We did Bing and Google, but we tried to search and reverse search and.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

We Even Went to McGee Hospital Facebook page and went all the way back.

[Carla Jenkins]

Through all of their labor and delivery posts.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

We tried Washington Hospital because they had the similar blankets. And then there was some other place we looked too, but we could. I don't know where she got the pictures because they weren't on the Internet.

[Jared]

There was hundreds of comments. Congratulations, let me know if you need anything, it was all over the place. And that's just the way that kind of goes. And I just, I don't know how you can find that picture. Hide it from a reverse image search, get that photoshopped and send it to someone and pass it off as your own. I mean, it's just, it's tough to.

[Tricia LaFach]

Understand where did she find those babies and why did she send them to Jared to post to the world when they didn't exist? Like most things relating to Christy, we were looking for answers. But with each answer, more questions are raised.

[Jared]

Where was her endgame?

[Carla Jenkins]

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All that available at meaningful. Meaningfulbeauty.com we searched a long time to find someone who would talk on record. Carla was similar to Christy in that she had experienced a phantom pregnancy. But that's where the similarities end.

[Carla Jenkins]

So that was really shocking. Obviously when you're having some pregnancy symptoms and then you know you're it's only nine weeks in, but you're kind of expecting that you would hear a heartbeat you don't think anything's gonna go wrong.

[Tricia LaFach]

For Carla and her partner, Alex, the news from the doctor was abrupt but true.

[Carla Jenkins]

He basically sat down and said, I think I'm trying to remember exactly, like, how it happened because my brain has probably blocked it out from, like, ptsd. And. And so he said, so we're not seeing a fetus.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla was told that even though her body is indicating to her that she is pregnant, there is no fetus in her uterus.

[Carla Jenkins]

Still, like, looks like I'm. I still feel pregnant. Look like I'm pregnant. I'm about, I think, 11 weeks in. @ that point, again, my body hadn't clued in to the fact that there was no fetus.

[Tricia LaFach]

Her doctor explained that her pregnancy symptoms should go away now that she knows.

[Carla Jenkins]

I think the emotional process was difficult, but it was. It was something that really, like, worried me in terms of my future.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla felt that this doctor was not as warm as she would have thought he would be. Given the situation. She felt resentment towards him for his indifference. Dr. Barrett explained that in her opinion, this approach to a psychosomatic disorder is common and part of the problem.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

I think we still have a long ways to go as far as Western medicine and these psychosomatic disorders. I think a lot of people that come in, first of all presenting with a psychosomatic disorder, they come into, like, the ER with symptoms, they're misdiagnosed, the psychological component is missed, or it's just. They're set, they're told that it's all in their head. They're not really experiencing real symptoms, which they are. But yeah, there is a psychological aspect, and I think that needs to be acknowledged, but not in a way that's like, pejorative, you know, in a way that's like, we look at the holistic picture here, the mind and body. Like, if there's something going on physically and we don't see the medical kind of underlying origin, then let's look at what's going on psychologically, you know.

[Tricia LaFach]

Sadly, none of that was explained to Carla anyways.

[Carla Jenkins]

It was just very shocking that my body, like, didn't clue in to the fact that there was no baby farming. Like, why wouldn't our bodies recognize that?

[Tricia LaFach]

It wasn't like her body wasn't showing symptoms. It was real.

[Carla Jenkins]

So I think I had missed my period and my boobs were pretty, like, sore. Like, I could tell, like, physically things were kind of weird or off. So physically I noticed that maybe something was, like, you know, awry.

[Tricia LaFach]

This was all clearly a Very difficult experience for Carla, but she still finds a way to make light of it.

[Carla Jenkins]

So it was pretty. It was funny because I think what we said the whole time I had this, like, I joked about it, which was so messed up, but I had this feeling and I kept on joking about how I was like, oh, there's probably, like nothing in my. Like, it's probably not even a real thing. And then we get there and the doctor's like, oh, there's no. Like, this baby has ghosted you is what we keep saying. Like, it's ghosted us. It's gone. And never. It never like, showed up to the party that I was invited to in my uterus. And so I feel like maybe deep down I kind of knew something was off.

[Tricia LaFach]

And for Carla, there was a light at end of the tunnel.

[Carla Jenkins]

I've gotten pregnant since I have a baby, so we have a 15 month old. He's very cute. Just even after the fact, you know, it felt like I was very alone. And I think that's why I wanted to, like, share with my family. Because so many women go through this without any support. And it's really disappointing and, like, hard for us. And it shouldn't be, you know, I mean, it should be, but we should be more open about it. I would say, so that you don't feel as alone. And I remember vividly thinking, like, how hard this must be for women who don't have partners or like, don't have any support system.

[Tricia LaFach]

Carla attributes the fact that she understood and accepted that there was no fetus immediately because she works in the medical field and generally trusts doctors.

[Carla Jenkins]

Yeah, I think that as someone who is, like, kind of science brained, I would say that it was much easier for me to come to terms with it. I mean, it was shocking. I did ask questions like, when is my body going to figure this out? Is it. You would hope that your body would.

[Tricia LaFach]

Understand not having any idea what Christy went through. Carla expressed her opinion that she could understand how some people might not accept what the doctors are saying. We know that Christy was going to the hospital for doctor's appointments regularly because Jared took her there. But what we don't know is prior to the birth, how many times was Christy told she was not pregnant?

[Carla Jenkins]

It's just crazy how that, like, ty has been made in our bodies that your body wouldn't pick up on the fact that there's nothing growing in addition to your, like, brain being told that. So for me, the connection was confusing. I think I knew that there was nothing to be done like it was over. I needed to move on. I needed to mourn. I needed to get as much support as possible from the people around me to be able to do that. I think for someone who may not have or may not be as, like, strong of mind or may have, like, other mental health issues happening, yeah, I could see it definitely being something that would. Would not be feasible. Like, you just wouldn't be able to connect because your body is still pregnant. Like, you're still feeling hormonal.

[Tricia LaFach]

I go back to Dr. Baird and the possibilities of Christy's mental health issues, that her actions paint the portrait of someone with severe borderline personality disorder. If those issues did exist from a psychoanalytic standpoint, they'd have a strong part to play in Christy carrying a phantom pregnancy for nine months. If Christy did see a doctor and hear the truth, did part of her mind just stow it away? Was living the life of a pregnant newlywed, posting every pregnancy update for the world to see that important to her? It's possible Dr. Baird has seen similar.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

It was a woman who had struggled with infertility for years and finally was able to get pregnant. And she gave birth and her child was very sick. And so she then dedicated her life to taking care of this very sick child that had a number of health problems over the years. And it really destroyed her marriage because she was so busy with the child and the husband was working all the time. And then she got pregnant again, and she was so excited and then come to find out it was a false pregnancy. And she ended up going to therapy, really working on it, but realized that she had this fantasy of actually having a healthy child. And that's what this child was going to be for her, because she did have a child. But that was caused trauma to her, too, having a sick child that she had to care for. So there was this sort of underlying fantasy for her of what that pregnancy was going to be to her. So I think for each individual that develops pseudoscience, you kind of look at what fantasy they're trying to fulfill with.

[Tricia LaFach]

With the pregnancy, in addition to trusting the science behind it. Carla says it was the image on the ultrasound that caused her 100% to accept what the doctor was telling her.

[Carla Jenkins]

I believed what I saw on the ultrasounds, that photo, because you're in the room while they're doing an ultrasound and you can see it, they show you that there's, you know, what it looks like. And so I could. And now that I've had a baby, I can tell Obviously what the difference is at like a nine week scan versus, you know, it's a little nugget versus the missing baby. Nine week scan.

[Tricia LaFach]

Jared saw images of his babies too.

[Jared]

There was some pictures of sonograms even.

[Tricia LaFach]

At the gender reveal. According to Jared's friend Sarah.

[Carla Jenkins]

We had a gender reveal and she had real sonograms. And I, I remember looking at the sonograms and seeing her name and I was like, oh well, her name's on it. Obviously they're real sonograms because her name's on it.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

She had one of, one of each.

[Carla Jenkins]

Baby with her name on it, the date.

[Tricia LaFach]

But the sonograms that Jared saw were fake.

[Jared]

It's 19.99 plus shipping at this point.

[Tricia LaFach]

The lines are completely blurred. Christy experienced pseudocyes but she also faked her pregnancy.

[Jared]

Oh yeah, it's a picture perfect family. Which furthest thing from the truth.

[Tricia LaFach]

And unfortunately for Jared, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface. Next time on the Unborn, they called them baby snatchers.

[Dr. Richard Farnham]

She had planned to kill the one baby off and then since the one baby was dead, bring another baby home. I think if she went through this whole nine months of tricking everybody, stealing a baby wouldn't be that far off.

[Tricia LaFach]

I had seen her in person and you'd be like, oh yeah, she's pregnant.

[Carla Jenkins]

She's definitely got two babies in there.

[Tricia LaFach]

You would never have known.

[Jared]

How did this all happen?

[Tricia LaFach]

It is a full blown psych disorder.

[Jared]

Police swarmed here to the hospital when this was reported.

[Tricia LaFach]

That grandmother told me a woman posing.

[Jared]

As the mother's sister came in dressed.

[Tricia LaFach]

In scrubs and somehow removed the baby from the nursery as the family was preparing to be discharged.

[Jared]

Today.

[Tricia LaFach]

The Unborn is a production of I Heart Podcasts, Audio up and Jesuit Press Productions created by Tricia Lafach and Frank Rodriguez Maul produced by Alvin Cohen and Rachel Foley Executive produced by Jimmy Jelinek, David Thwaites and Jared Gustav Edited by Gerard Bauer and Preston Dawson Sound design and mixing by Jeremiah Zimmerman.

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