Eleonor Mendoza married Arturo Gamiño in 7/2000 at the age of 17, already pregnant. She stated that she felt pregnancy was the only way to gain acceptance from her in-laws, particularly her mother-in-law.

By the age of 25, Eleonor had experienced two miscarriages. She alleged that Arturo and his family attributed these miscarriages to her perceived lack of self-care. Following health examinations, Eleonor underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) and became pregnant for a third time. After another miscarriage, Eleonor chose to conceal the news from both her own family and her in-laws, maintaining the pretense that everything was well.

"I didn't want to hear 'I told you so' or 'It's your fault' again," Eleonor shared. She knew the expectation for her to have a child was immense. Beyond the pressure from her husband and his family, she herself felt a profound desperation to become a mother. "I always dreamed of being a mother. I always loved children and was always drawn to them," Eleonor stated.

**Plan to fake pregnancy**

Eleonor worked in the obstetrics department of the General Hospital of Mexico from 2002 before transitioning to administrative work. While there, Eleonor claimed she met Mayra Navarro, a woman who was four to five months pregnant. According to Eleonor, Mayra was a single mother who did not wish to keep the child. The two women reportedly reached an oral agreement: after Mayra gave birth, Eleonor would take the baby and present it as her own.

Eleonor maintained her fake pregnancy. She gained 25 kg and manipulated medical records at the hospital to mislead others. Over time, Eleonor even started to convince herself of the pregnancy's reality. "I thought, 'what if I really am pregnant? So many things were going wrong in my head'," she recounted.

On 17/6/2009, Mayra gave birth to a daughter. Eleonor claimed she visited Mayra and the baby that day to take the infant, while Mayra deliberately left the hospital alone. Prior to this, Eleonor had informed her family that she would give birth on 17/6/2009.

**The abduction plot unravels**

Around 18h45 on 17/6/2009, Eleonor placed the baby into a department store bag before meeting her husband at a Mexico City hotel. After the hospital reported the baby missing, police reviewed security camera footage. It showed Eleonor as the last person to interact with the baby's mother before the infant disappeared, and she was later seen leaving the hospital with a large paper bag.

After several hours of searching all addresses associated with Eleonor's records, police raided the hotel room and arrested the couple. The child was subsequently returned to her biological parents.

Eleonor Mendoza at the time of her arrest. Photo: Netflix

Inside the hotel room, authorities recovered the department store bag believed to have been used to remove the baby from the hospital, along with a backpack containing newborn supplies. They also located a white Nissan Sentra, thought to be the vehicle Eleonor used to travel from the hospital to the hotel.

After Eleonor and her husband were arrested, Mayra informed police that she had never met Eleonor prior to giving birth and that any agreement to hand over her child was "absurd." She asserted, "there was never any agreement." Mayra stated that before her due date, she typically visited a different clinic and only came to the General Hospital of Mexico for delivery. After giving birth, Eleonor approached her bedside and asked numerous questions, leading Mayra to believe she was a social worker. According to Mayra, she left the room to use the restroom. Upon her return, her newborn had vanished.

Years later, while participating in a documentary about the case, Mayra revealed she still felt no empathy and did not believe she would ever forgive Eleonor.

**After the prison sentence**

The kidnapping caused public outcry in Mexico, as a hospital employee faked pregnancy and then abducted a newborn from her workplace. Immediately after the incident, investigators concluded that the abduction had been planned for months, with the intent of keeping the child and raising her as Eleonor and Arturo's own.

Police considered Arturo an accomplice, despite Eleonor's claims that her husband was unaware. Arturo served two years and six months in prison before being acquitted. "She did something unforgivable," Arturo said of his wife.

Eleonor Mendoza embracing Arturo Gamiño after her release from prison. Photo: Netflix

Experts suggested Eleonor suffered from pseudocyesis, a false pregnancy, due to societal pressure to have children. According to Cleveland Clinic, this condition involves a person believing they are pregnant and even experiencing pregnancy symptoms, despite not being pregnant in reality.

On 9/11/2011, Eleonor was found criminally responsible for the unlawful abduction of a child under 16 with the intent to harm the child or others. She was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison and ordered to pay a fine. When Eleonor completed her sentence in 2023, Arturo was among those waiting outside the prison walls to welcome her release.

In the following years, Arturo, still desiring children, separated from Eleonor and had a son with another woman. However, he later reconciled with Eleonor. The couple now lives happily, co-parenting Arturo's young son.

Tue Anh (via People, La Jornada)