Heartbreaking true crime doc A Child of My Own has landed on Netflix and fans are wondering where Alejandra is now.
Inside Eleonor Alejandra Marin Mendoza’s life now as A Child of My Own airs. (Image: NETFLIX)
A Child of My Own explores what happened when a woman faked a pregnancy and kidnapped a newborn.
Netflix has released the one-off true crime special A Child of My Own, telling the story of Mexican native Eleonor Alejandra Marin Mendoza who committed the unspeakable crime in June 2009.
Alejandra was already pregnant when she married Arturo Calderon Gamino at just 17, but suffered the first of several miscarriages and went through IVF in her 20s.
Facing pressure from her family and society to become a mother, she didn’t tell anyone about her miscarriage at 26 and instead faked a full-term pregnancy.
Working as an administrator at a hospital, she came up with a plan to steal a newborn from the maternity ward with CCTV footage showing her walking out with a baby girl in a large gift bag.
After seeing the baby, Arturo realised that Alejandra hadn’t been pregnant and, after authorities were able to track her down a few hours later, the couple were arrested at a hotel in Mexico City.
Is Alejandra from A Child of My Own still in prison?
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Alejandra was convicted of kidnapping, specifically of the illegal deprivation of liberty of a minor, in 2011 and given a 13-year prison sentence.
Alejandra has now served her time and is no longer in prison, having been released in 2023, while her husband Arturo was acquitted of any wrongdoing after spending two years behind bars.
At the end of A Child of My Own, which was filmed two years after her prison release, Alejandra is still residing in Mexico but a lot has changed.
She shared that Arturo didn’t want to give up on his dreams of being a father but Alejandra didn’t want to go through with another pregnancy or more treatment.
The pair briefly broke up and Arturo then began another relationship, welcoming a baby son with a different woman before they also split.
However, Arturo and Alejandra rekindled their romance shortly after as she explained: “It makes me very happy to see him smile and to be fulfilled as a father.
“It makes me even happier that he sees me in his life as a mother or a parent to his son.”
The Netflix documentary ends with Arturo and Alejandra happily playing with his young son in the park.
A Child of My Own is available to watch on Netflix.