Monday, June 8, 2009

B and Little April Rose: A Scam?

I think many of us in our little blogging community have followed the story of April Rose and her mother~to~be B, and can be counted among B’s 900+ followers. April Rose was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 and Lobar HPE several months ago, and was not expected to live. B was advised by her doctor to terminate, but she opted to continue the pregnancy for as long as possible with the hopes that she could meet her daughter alive and spend at least a few minutes with her after birth. We prayed for a miracle and received it when B made it to {and past} her due date, and April Rose was born yesterday. For most of the afternoon, we were updated by Raechel, an out~of~state friend of B’s, who told us that April Rose was born perfect and that her heart was going strong, then that her heart rate was decreasing and that B and D, April Rose’s father, were preparing to lose their daughter.

Then the updates stopped abruptly. Those of us who had been asked to pray for this sweet little baby were left wondering how she was doing or if she had gone on to join Jesus in Heaven. This morning we were shocked to find the following message posted by D on B’s blog:

hi world. it's d and i have decided to keep this blog as just updates at this time.we have received so much hate and accusations the last 2 days through the internet both on here and in our email.


i have read and heard and seen it all. a doctored image of our girl with red horns and a tail, emails about how we have done all of this for cash (for the record we have never taken in any donation money or checks. the only person who has gotten money from this blog is PASS Pregnancy Care Center) at this time it is too much.

people are entitled to believe what they want. people can say that we are cons or whatever else they would like to say. we know our hearts, so do our friends and so does God.

we do not plan on ending this blog but at this time there is no room for the hate we have received. this is not the time and we only wish people could see that as truth and not continue spreading lies and speaking hate to a family trying to live life. to those who have supported us with prayers....the most important thing anyone can do is pray and so we will continue to post prayer updates and information but at this time that is all we can do.

d

And that’s been it. No more updates, no more news. And rumors have started swirling that the whole thing is a scam. There is no B. There is no April Rose. The pictures posted of April Rose yesterday were of a baby doll, and we have all been deceived.

I related to B. As an unwed 20~something Christian woman living with her boyfriend, I could easily find myself in her situation, wearing my sin as a badge for all to see. I admired her bravery in a horrific situation. I spent time praying for her, and constantly wondered whether I would have the strength to carry a terminal baby to term if I were in her shoes. Sunday, after hearing that April Rose had been born alive and perfect, I rejoiced and told myself that all the pain and heartache an expectant mother would go through in her situation would be worth it if it meant getting to spend even a few minutes with a precious, dying child. I prayed for another miracle for April Rose, a prayer that this beautiful baby girl would live.

I’ll admit that in the past few weeks, as B’s due date passed and April Rose failed to make her debut, I wondered if the whole thing was a scam. And then I felt horribly guilty for even questioning the truth of her situation. Here is a kind and caring young woman who spends hours each week compiling and preparing a prayer request list for others in desperate need of prayer. How could someone so giving be deceiving us all? Are the rumors true? I don’t know. I am hurt and angry for all of us at even the thought that they are. Either way, all we can do is continue to pray for B, as Amber at The RuffleBlog suggested. If the story of April Rose is true, then she, B, and D need our prayers now more than ever. And if the story is false, then the person {or people} behind this ugly lie needs our prayers even more.


*** Update {6/9/09 7:45 a.m. PST} ***
The April Rose blog was removed/shut down sometime during the night. For those who missed it, an "update" on April and B was posted last night, stating that they were both in the hospital, and doctors were performing some blood tests on April as she had begun to deteriorate, but B and D were hopeful that they would be able to return home with their daughter that night.

We are all free to draw our own conclusions about the situation, but I personally feel that the story is false. My heart goes out to all the followers of this blog who became emotionally invested in this sad story.

18 comments:

Vivienne @ the V Spot said...

I don't know anything about this, but I hope that if there is a baby she is alright, and if there isn't, well... I pray for the people who started the hoax. What goes around, comes around.

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

I had not heard about this baby. I hope that everything is okay with them. I hope it is not untrue. I can't imagine why anyone would do that if it is.

XOOX
Jen

Xazmin said...

Wow...I hadn't heard of this either. It's so sad that we live in a world where we have to be suspicious of these types of stories.

I hope it wasn't a hoax.

Jenny said...

I have been following the April Rose blog for some time and never thought it to be fake. That is until just this week, when a lot of the details made no sense.

I'm very concerned that someone could make something like this up.

Tina said...

Heather:

I have had my doubts about this blog for sometime now.....Mckmama has a loyal follower named Jess who kept going on and on about April Rose and B. The pictures I have seen that B (who is the mother of this baby) posted to her blog and then took down do not look like a 4lb 5 oz sick baby like they say she is. I also noticed that mckmama's sister Hillary who had a button for April Rose on her site has now taken it down??????? Lots of questions and strange things....

I think this girl made all this up to get hits to her blog and to make money off the ads. There are people who are saying they sent her money to her P.O. Box and also the shirt that was being sold was made by the lady Raechel's husband who is updating the blog currently?????

I think it is bad business when people are using an illness of a child to receive maonetary gain. I have seen this time and time again on blogs and people put up pay pal buttons and ask others to help so and so out.....Just to many dishonest people who can hide behind a computer.

Amber Filkins said...

I never thought for a minute that it was a scam. I mean, what kind of a person could make that up!? And put SO much effort into it. I do think that it is real, and I've been following all the updates.

I think this is the problem with people only using initials or made up names. I find that the people that get the most hate mail, nasty comments, etc, are the people that use initials or nicknames. Some of my readers do it, and I don't mean to hurt any of them. I just don't agree with using initials or nicknames. I think it's annoying, I think they're being paranoid, and I can't get to know them as well when they do this.

You obviously take a small risk, but you don't have to put your last name, or your city, or address or anything. You don't have to be afraid to list your first names.

Capri said...

I'll be keeping an eye out as well, this sounds a lot like the Kaycee Nicole hoax all over again.

Capri said...

The April Rose blog appears to be closed down. And unfortunately, there are people sick enough to make up hoaxes about themselves or fictious sick kids in order to get attention, sympathy, or even money. You should look up Kaycee Nicole Hoax on Google or your favorite search engine. A Kaycee started out as a persona made up by a college girl, and at some point her mom took over and made up Kaycee's terminal illness. People got attached to Kaycee, believing she was real, and they mourned when she died...And then it turned out to be a cruel hoax. I honestly don't know how or what to pray for people like that, they make me absolutely incensed.

Crystal Renee said...

Oh my! I have FOLLOWED and FOLLOWED and FOLLOWED! The site is down and I am completely MORTIFIED! Literally!

Anonymous said...

So sad when this happens. :( Munchhausens by proxy is horrible...and in the world of digital media, it's even easier. So so sad that there are people out there so starved for attention. :(

amanda said...

it broke my heart to see someone would go to such lengths. b needs our prayers NOW more than ever!

Chatty Cricket said...

Mrs Soup, is that what you think this was? Unbelievable. The whole thing is just so unbelievable!! And here I was, feeling so badly for them when "D" left that post.

Good Grief.

Sugarplum Garters said...

I hadn't considered that it could be Munchhausen's by Proxy until Mrs. Soup mentioned it. But it makes complete sense. Someone would have to be seriously mentally ill to come up with such a horrific lie and continue on with it for so long.

James' Full House said...

I had been following after being asked to pray for April Rose months ago. At times things seemed off to me. Being a labor and delivery nurse things just didn't add up. But then different areas do things differently and I had no idea where she was. So I over looked it. I now feel that this was not real.That was not a 4lb sick baby! The cheeks were full and chubby. I see sick babies and that was not one! I feel very taken advantage of and violated. I guess that is a chance you take in blog world. It isn't for us to judge per say who deserves prayer, B is need of it either way at this point. I pray that April Rose if real is OK and if not real that B who ever she is will seek forgiveness and a relationship with God.

Brandi

Abigail said...

I had been following the blog almost this entire time. I have wondered what was up. My father is a physician and when I sent him the link to read it he called it bullshit awhile ago and told me to stop reading. I definitely should have listened. What a terrible thing to do. To lie about a sick child like that.

It's just too bad people wasted their money on that woman.

heidi said...

read what they, the April Rose people, did to my friend. She just gave birth...she is handling this very well...if it were me, i'd be livid.

see dates May 29th & May 30th

http://resolved2worship.xanga.com/

Anonymous said...

I was away and didn't see the photos unfortunately. I would have been able to tell you if it was a doll or not, I work in the doll industry so if anyone happened to save the pictures, let me know.

I had contact with "B" a while ago and she assured me that she never asked for money or gifts and I believed her.
However I now wonder because in the ultrasound picture posted on the web, the baby does not look like T13 baby who have a very characteristic look...
I now wonder...

If indeed this was a hoax, shame on the people (person?) who did it!!
If it wasn't, my prayers are with you...

SheWrites said...

This story is 100% a scam. I got confirmation last evening ...

Lori K. Pasch is a piano teacher who has had her address and phone number hijacked by Beccah Rose Beushausen. As a result, she has received numerous phone calls from angry, praying women looking for "B" and asking about "April Rose", who, turns out, is a plastic baby doll. Lori's daughter attended Olivet Nazarene University in the Chicago area with Beccah and that is apparently their only connection to one another. At the time of our discussion, Lori had received five other phone calls from angry women looking for "B" or her imaginary daughter "April Rose," and she was sick to death when I began detailing Beccah's Internet scam to many God-honoring, praying women -- some of whom have actually experienced the very dire circumstances that Beccah so intricately and deceitfully made up. Apparently, Beccah used without permission Lori's address and attached it to her own business See Through Me Studios.

Here's what she shared with me about Beccah. The facts, if you will:

- There is/was NO BABY.
- There is/was NO PREGNANCY.
- Five years ago, Beccah suffered something very traumatic, of which she would not detail and most certainly did not use as an excuse for her vile behavior, but traumatic nonetheless. As a result of this tragic event, Beccah is very sick. She either is or should be (according to Lori) in treatment over this event.
- Lori is not familiar with the blogging world and how it works, therefore, does not seem to understand the magnitude as we all do at the present time, but she does desire to get to the bottom of this.

One final note to ALL BLOG OWNERS: If you see someone comment under the profile name InHISTightGrip, THIS IS BECCAH ROSE BEUSHAUSEN, AKA "B". She's usually defending "B" and/or The Story. She has been plugging the Little April Rose Blogspot for quite some time offering compliments to the blog owners she reads and then asking that they stop by and "pray for this young woman who desperately needs it," which turns out, was herself.

So, just to recap, THERE IS NO APRIL ROSE, AND THERE WAS NO PREGANCY. There's just a very sick 26-year-old girl playing with doll babies and making up sick, vile stories.

Paula Neal Mooney put it very eloquently, boldly, and by far, best:

"But woe (and whoa!) to those who dare steal in the name of Jesus Christ and think they've gotten over. I'd say repent quickly, because as that Bible verse goes, "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31