Netflix documentary depicts 2009 Mexican nurse kidnapping case

The Netflix documentary ‘A Child of My Own’ explores a 2009 case from Mexico involving Eleonor Alejandra Marín Mendoza, a nurse at the Hospital General de México. Marín Mendoza faked a pregnancy for months, even falsifying medical records and gaining weight to sustain the deception, before kidnapping a newborn from the hospital.

Following the abduction, Marín Mendoza was sentenced to over 13 years in prison. The documentary, directed by Maite Alberdi, utilizes a dramatized reconstruction for its first 50 minutes before transitioning to interviews with the real participants, including the child’s mother, Mayra Navarro, and the judge who presided over the case.

Actress Ana Celeste, who portrayed Marín Mendoza in the production, reported undergoing a significant physical and emotional transformation for the role, including a 10-kilogram weight gain to accurately depict the character’s appearance during her staged pregnancy.