We've all seen those fake baby bumps worn by jocular "pregnant" dads. Now imagine someone faking an entire pregnancy. A 16 year-old teen from Michigan was able to pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of her family and friends - apparently even her boyfriend - who believed she was carrying triplets.
The unnamed girl from a Detroit suburb didn't have the nerve to admit that she's lost her baby at six weeks, so she went on to carry on the deception for 10 long months thanks to props purchased from a website called Fakeababy.com.
The teen went through with a baby shower to celebrate the fictional babies she'd named Ivan, Alice, and Isabella, where she allegedly received "more presents than she could open."
In addition to the fake bellies - retailing at $149 - the site also sells fake ultrasounds for $25 apiece, like the ones posted by the teen on Facebook.
It was these ultrasound images that ultimately let the cat out of the bag when a mom of triplets noticed that all the babies in the images were in the exact same position.
Then the scheduled C-section date rolled around, leading the girl to finally admit she'd lost the baby early on.
"She didn't tell anybody she was scared and didn't know what to do. All donations she took are being returned," said the girl's brother.
Like most lies, this one grew more elaborate and complicated with each passing week. Not to condone her actions, but the teen probably couldn't see a way out of the manipulation.
She was just 16, after all.
It begs the question: why does Fakeababy.com exist in the first place?
It's a gag site, clearly, but even the company recognizes the potential for misuse: "Like almost any item in existence, this product may be used for fun or for evil, depending solely on the intentions of the user."
Police are investigating to see whether the incident involved criminal activity.
RELATED: Why the Fake Pregnancy Prosthetic Business is Booming
Printer-friendly version