A few days before Thanksgiving, I found out some of the most disturbing information a blogger (and mother) can get: someone had stolen my daughter’s photos off my blog AND was claiming her as their own – for almost an entire year. This woman also has an arrest record and has refused to take down Alina’s photos since I first tweeted her on November 26, 2013. The woman has posted photo after photo of my child all over – from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – claiming to be her mother, using the images to engage with men in sexually taunting manners (specifically on Twitter). Though the social media networks (or she) have removed all public photos, it has been confirmed that my daughter’s photo is still published here, here, here, here on her private channels. And that’s just on Facebook, alone.
This woman’s name is Rebecca Lynn Kirkum. Kirkum was born on 11/18/1987. She was arrested in Miami earlier this year for aggravated battery. Her Twitter handle is @kirkum25. Her Facebook is Rebecca Lynn Kirkum. Her Instagram is @Kirkum1987. From what I can gather, she lives in Southern Florida. Sources tell me that pictures of young children appear throughout her social media outlets and these sources suspect that Kirkum doesn’t personally know any of these children.
Here is just a sampling of how Rebecca Kirkum has been using my daughter’s images over the last 37 weeks. If you aren’t a regular reader of DSM and still think my beautiful child could come from this horrid and morally vacant human being, feel free to check out my original post from July 6, 2011 entitled Family Vegas Blog: Independence Day Traditions Made.
What bloggers should know:
This is a nightmare. I realize that by posting images they’ll liable to be stolen. But this. This is a nightmare. All of the above images were watermarked, and most not even alt-tagged or optimized, but this thief still managed to find them.
Some things I’ve learned along the way: Facebook is good about removing images with links that you can report. They even have a form you can fill out for things you can’t see – like from private accounts. Twitter is more difficult because they won’t respond at all without a DMCA Takedown Notice. Click on that link for an article sent from my lawyer – it helps to explain the law and what should be included in your letter. Instagram is difficult to monitor if the violator has a private account. And lastly, unless someone is using your images for a financial gain, you don’t have a civil suit. And I’m not about to wait until this wack job does anything criminal before outing her to my readers and social media networks.
To Rebecca Kirkum,
You probably don’t know, but at my blog, I write letters to my kids about heritage, legacy and identity as a mixed race family. Today, however, this letter is to you:
How dare you. What kind of low life scum uses another woman’s child for their own sexually charged, pity party. I asked you nicely. My social media networks asked you nicely. My lawyer will be asking you nicely soon, too. But you refuse to give up the game, and now I promise that every.single.person you are connected too will see this post. Everyone will get to see what the real Rebecca Lynn Kirkum looks like – without makeup or green contacts or a fake daughter named “Precious Marie”.
I also want to say, second to the feeling of utter shame and guilt for having put my innocent and beautiful daughter “out there” for an abuser like you to victimize, I am pissed off that you are also mother and woman of color. My child is of mixed race – I’m constantly telling her how beautiful her skin is, how rich her African American and Cuban roots are and I struggle with idiots like you making it difficult for those of us trying to make this world a more tolerant place. My readers come from all backgrounds and none. NONE. Would condone the absolute theft you are committing by vandalizing my images and impersonating me as the mother of that child. It pains me so much, after deliberately filling the internet with images of a strong black father and a steadfast brown mother, that I have to post your mug shot on my blog. I am so ashamed of you and every last thing you represent.
Ultimately, black, white or from planet Mars, no one is allowed to use photos of my children without my consent. And you, Rebecca Kirkum, will never ever have my consent.
This fully optimized and highly promoted post is filled with information that can be found on the internet with a simple Google search for “Rebecca Kirkum”. All links to profiles are also visible with public searches. I will keep looking for ways to protect my child’s identity while continuing my business and passion as a professional blogger.
Markisha Walker
December 3, 2013 at 9:43 amFirst of all let me say this, your daughter is very beautiful!! I have plenty of mixed children in my family, plenty that are not but have very beautiful eye colors…..
But that’s not why I’m contacting you, This matter is very shocking….I know Rebecca Kirkum. I’ve know her since were little girls. My Grandmother & her parents attended the same Church. Since I was always attached to my grandmother, I saw her (Rebecca) every Sunday. I even went to school with her. She was a year under me but you know how it is when all the girls live & grew up together went to School together all hang out together….so we were kinda close till she moved away. A lot of us women now were wondering where she was and what she had been up to. McKinney is small so when someone is out of site for too long we begin to wonder and be noisy, not in a bad way.
Rebecca just got back in touch with most of us from McKinney,TX through Facebook, so of course all of the ladies being moms now, begin to look on her pics, okay so most of us knew about the first daughter (which some of us are still wondering about ourselves because of the daughters age, is even hers!) Why? Because next year will be my ten year high school graduation anniversary, like i said earlier she was only a year under me….i never recall her being pregnant in high school, so how is this possible? But as I was saying before, we begin looking at photos and when we came across what we now know is your daughters’ photo, we begin to question her is that her daughter, she never would answer..so one of the girls begin to really dig and do some resarch. So a few months ago, one of the ladies in McKinney got a hold of how she got the pic of the beautiful little girl and her mugshot. We were all shocked and began to question her, so instead of her being honest with childhood friends she simply blocked us all. Not to long ago she unblocked me but im sure after i post this on Facebook she is going to block me again. Im so sorry for what she did, not sure what is going on in her head…but again truly sorry. If you need any extra info please let me know.
Shawnta
December 3, 2013 at 12:12 pmVery True Markisha Mind Blowing……. I dont knw if it was a lil girl or if it was her whomever it was called me screaming and hollering last year saying my mommie is in trouble my mommie is in trouble then the phone hung up the person never called me bck they txted me callin me there aunt stating there mom was in trouble could i help them begging and pleading me to help phone hung up once again never heard back from Rebecca Till This IM SPEECHLESS….
Sarde roberts
December 3, 2013 at 7:35 pmOMG I’m so shocked cousin!!! I’m blocked on her fb as well! What she’s swaying is true…I’m one of those childhood friends and McKinney isn’t that big…we knew something wasn’t right and when we all questioned…BLOCKED! I feel sorry for you the mother and Rebbeca clearly needs help. FAST!
Ashley L. Lewis
December 5, 2013 at 12:42 amMarkisha, this is crazy…I knew Rebecca was special, but damn…she blocked me from Facebook last month. But this is to much, have you heard from her?!
Lisa Cash Hanson
December 3, 2013 at 9:55 amVanessa I am so sorry – This concerns me not just for stealing the images but for how she may use them ;( Praying over your family. I would also call …Actually I’m going to Private message you on FB- Praying
Olga @The EuropeanMama
December 3, 2013 at 10:31 amI am so shocked about this! I am so so sorry this has happened to you! Your daughter is beautiful and so are you. It is never OK to steal an image off the Internet even if it is there for everybody to see. And impersonating some child’s mom is even less OK. I hope this will be over soon!
Shannon
December 3, 2013 at 11:38 amOmg! I’m so happy thatshe is exposed! Me and several ladies tried to expose her months ago via fb and instagram.It’s truly disturbing for someone to do that.
Eleanor
December 3, 2013 at 12:02 pmYou are an amazing mom, I’ve told you before you are doing a fabulous job. I am off to support you the best way I can by sharing this post. -Eleanor
Shawnta
December 3, 2013 at 12:07 pmI Agree With Shannon I knew It Im also sorry this has happened to you and your beautiful daughter bout time some has put a stop to this NON SENSE May God Continue To Bless You and Your Beautiful Family…..
Carla
December 3, 2013 at 12:44 pmWow! This is so shocking and disturbing! She obviously has mental issues. I am so sorry you are going through this but thank you so much for telling your story! I will pass it on!
Danyelle
December 3, 2013 at 12:58 pmAs a mother who posts my kids doing crafts or going to events, this is frightening. Of course I never use their names, but that’s not all the needs to be guarded. Good for you for standing up to her and getting a lawyer. This is a story that needs to be shared for all to see. Watermarking doesn’t stop people.
It also poses a great question to all us parent bloggers, how can we protect our children? Do we change our ways in photography? It’s something I’ll be thinking a lot about.
Viviana #soymama blog
December 3, 2013 at 2:38 pmestoy muda y sin palabras. que horror.
amanda
December 3, 2013 at 2:46 pmYour daughter is beautiful!! So sorry you have to deal with the ignorance that some people have to offer!! I like markisha went to school with this girl. I however didn’t really trust her as far I could throw her.. and when I seen the pictures of any of the children/babies she had posted always questioned if they were hers.. Glad you are putting a stop to what she has been doing!! let us all know how it goes!!
Trina - Baby Shopaholic
December 3, 2013 at 2:49 pmI know EXACTLY what you are going through! A similar situation just happened to me last month! I didn’t sleep for weeks! It took so much out of me. A reader sent me the link to your post because they knew what happened to me. Sorry to meet on these terms. Feel free to email me. So sorry you have to go through this. It’s a nightmare!
Vanessa
December 3, 2013 at 3:25 pmI will definitely be in touch, Trina. Xo, Vanessa
Ashley L. Lewis
December 5, 2013 at 12:37 amI’m so sorry that this happened to you and you’re family..it’s shocking considering I’ve know Rebecca since we were 12! For the past 2yrs she has told me that she had a daughter named precious Marie, in which I knew wasn’t hers considering the child is too pretty. But also I never saw pregnancy pics…in high school she always faked being pregnant. U know Markisha walker as well, we all grew up together.so she isn’t lying…in school Rebecca acted so weird and she was always lying about things that were just unbelievable… her and I recently had some words on Facebook and she has blocked me, but contract me and I’ll help you get in contact with her family, so they you can sleep better and have your daughters pics…
Danica Kombol
December 3, 2013 at 2:49 pmSo sorry you are going through this. Stay strong. Let us know what you want us to do!
Cam
December 3, 2013 at 3:17 pmI understand how you are feeling to some degree. Someone took photos of both of my children and did horrible things to their photos. It was so frustrating trying to get them removed. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I hope it gets resolved soon!
Vanessa
December 3, 2013 at 3:24 pmOh Cam, I am so very sorry to hear that. The frustration and time to see any results makes my head spin. Lots of hugs sent your way. Xo, Vanessa
Jai
December 3, 2013 at 3:22 pmI don’t get ghetto often, but please let me know if you need me to take my earrings off all the way from NYS. This is ridic!! This is the worst nightmare for a mom blogger. I saw your post on the FB group if you need me to help in any way to bring the word out let me know. In the meantime I’ve shared on my personal and blog pages. I hope this works out for you real soon! Hugs!
Kim
December 3, 2013 at 3:22 pmYou already know I am not a mother but I will still support you in making sure this woman faces any and all consequences. This is sick and downright horrible. I just don’t understand what goes through people’s heads. So sorry this has happened to you.
Brenda Brown
December 3, 2013 at 3:25 pmThis is a complete nightmare. I want to cry for you. I am so happy you exposed this piece of SCUM trash.
Sarah
December 3, 2013 at 3:52 pmThis is very sad and this woman is very mentally disturbed. From one blogger to another…(((hugs)))
Jennifer
December 3, 2013 at 3:55 pmMama!!!! I’m SO sorry you are going through this. While I’ve had similar situations in the past, they were not this extreme and I’m SO sorry this woman has hurt you!!
Don’t worry, justice will be served. All your gorgeous images will be removed and people will see the truth!!
Please don’t let this keep you from being the amazing woman and writer you are!! You are a rockstar mama.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I’ll share this as well!!
Let me know what else I can do!
Teea Lynn
December 3, 2013 at 3:58 pmI am so sorry. I can’t believe anyone would do that. I hope you can get this resolved.
Candy
December 3, 2013 at 4:02 pmI’m so sorry that woman has done this to you & your beautiful daughter. As a mom and blogger my heart breaks for you. If there’s anything we can do, know we are all here for you!
Jeana
December 3, 2013 at 4:32 pmHOLY COW Vanessa!! I’m so sorry. Am helping to share and promote this post for you.
Faty - Simplemente mi familia
December 3, 2013 at 4:45 pmOh dear! I’m so sorry for what are you going through, I’m a blogger also y desde que emepeze a escribir siempre eh tenido miedo de poner las fotos de mis hijos justo por este tipo de personas, mama we are with you and this person needs to pay for what she is doing to you and your beautiful baby girl. God bless you
Claudia Krusch
December 3, 2013 at 5:05 pmVery sorry for all this. My son is in most of my posts and now I’m worried, how did you find out? How did you search?
Vanessa
December 3, 2013 at 5:18 pmHi Claudia, as you might have noticed in the comments, a few women connected to this person IRL were concerned and knew the images of my child were not her’s. One of them reached out to me via my blog. Had it not been for the good will of fellow moms, I would still not know. That’s the scariest part.
Tammy L. Adams
October 25, 2017 at 8:28 pmHello , I just found your post . I’m very sorry about what happened. I have been researching this subject for Angel Parents, we have all lost a child and we’re running into this problem with horrific speed. To bury your child and be dragged away from their grave is the worst excruciating kind of pain a parent will ever know. Then we start connecting with support groups to help each other want to live every day and now we have “fake moms” that have never lost a child as if it’s some kind of club med or popular trend and that’s insulting as we would give ANYTHING not to mourn our child. Now heartless people are stealing our babies pictures , which is about we have left of them and we want to honor their memory with dignity and respect . It’s shocking to say the least. I believe that one whom has ever REALLY suffered child loss would NEVER EVER do this to another mom. I’ m trying to find out how to see IF someone is using them.. to put some at ease… I did find an app that another women whom also went through this created so you can post your kids safely but nothing about HOW to tell if they were used by anyone. Thanx , God bless and good luck I can post a link for the national website to check identity theft laws in each state . And the app link if you’d like.
Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting
December 3, 2013 at 5:12 pmOh goodness, I am so sorry this happened to you, too! This happened to me about a couple years ago, I had french commenters hitting me up in emails and comments like CRAZY telling me that a french woman had stolen images from my blog and told folks on a french message board that they were all her children. I was dumbfounded and freaked out, completely. The message board removed her account and all those photos, but I never knew if she was still out there sharing my kids’ pictures somewhere else. 🙁
Vanessa
December 3, 2013 at 5:19 pmI am shocked to hear the amount of people this has happened to, and the lack of recourse we have to protect ourselves without completely shrinking away. I’m so sorry for what you have been through Lisa. Big hugs to you. Xo, Vanessa
Suzi Satterfield
December 3, 2013 at 5:19 pmI use pictures of my children on my blog all.the.time. Sure, I watermark and I don’t use their real names. But I hate, hate, HATE the thought of someone using pictures of my babies to be creepy. It just sucks, and I hate the thought of not using my littles’ pictures as I document our lives together because of trash like that.
Ruth V.
December 3, 2013 at 5:20 pmThis has happened to me also (well, not quite as vile as what this woman did to you). Someone stole my son’s image and used it to sell items in their Etsy shop. The feeling of violation is nauseating. Total nightmare indeed. Good for you for putting this woman on BLAST!
Meghan @JaMonkey
December 3, 2013 at 5:28 pmLook like Facebook took down some. This is really scary. Seriously makes you think about sharing their picture online. I hope you get everything taken down.
courtney hennagir
December 3, 2013 at 5:29 pmI feel so sick to my stomach for you! I can’t even imagine…just,wow. If we can do anything to help spread the word,let us all know! Sending love to you and YOUR gorgeous family. 🙂
Telma Garcia
December 3, 2013 at 5:33 pmI’m truly so sorry this happened to you. This is a nightmare! Thank you for sharing your story and you can be sure that I will share too. This ugly human being needs to be exposed!
Melissa Moreno
December 3, 2013 at 5:44 pmThis is awful. What kind of person would use another woman’s child for her own selfish online benefit. She’s a pathetic woman and human being. I’m so sorry this has happened to you and for bloggers everywhere.
Tasha
December 3, 2013 at 6:02 pmHow unbelievably scary! I am so sorry this has happened to you. I am absolutely outraged reading your post on how this crazed, sick woman has stolen your daughters photos, and to claim her as her own child? OMG! 🙁 I can’t even type what I REALLY want to type right now, this angers me that much.
This woman definitely has some sort of mental issue. The only reason I could think that someone do something like this is because they can’t have children of their own. After taking a look at her Facebook page that you linked to, I did notice a photo she posted in her profile pictures of a supposed “baby bump” with the words “baby” announcing to her friends that she was having a baby from the looks of it. My gut feeling tells me there is no baby, never was. So sad 🙁
I do have a question for you though Vanessa.
Even though watermarking doesn’t prevent people from stealing your photos as they can usually crop the watermark out. Have you though of watermarking the entire photo and adjusting the opacity so that it’s not an eye sore? That is something I would recommend as it will be pretty damn hard to crop it out when it’s a part of the entire photo.
I have shared this post all of my social media accounts and in about 20 different blogger groups I am in on Facebook. Helping you spread the word! Huge hugs! And praying that you get this all sorted out and that this woman get’s the help she so desperately needs. x
Vanessa
December 3, 2013 at 7:47 pmThank you sincerely for the support, Tasha. As many many bloggers do, I adore photography and hated the thought of watermarking across the entirety of my image, even with a low opacity. Especially since I actually use my blog as documentation and make books out of my posts/letters to the kids, I wanted to keep the integrity of the image as whole as possible. But. You could imagine how I feel about that now. I will absolutely be practicing your suggestion from here on out. Xo, Vanessa
Aunt Clara
December 3, 2013 at 8:31 pmOh, Vanessa, I am so sorry to hear you are going through this. As a mom who’s shared some of my daughter’s pictures in my blog I can sympathise. As my daughter’s growing older I am sharing less and less on Social Media, and am think of watermarking the ones I share with friends on FB because, frankly, I don’t have my daughter’s consent, and sometimes I feel like I have an ethical conflict. It was one thing when she was a baby, but now that she’s 8 she has the face she’ll likely have the rest of her life.
What a sick, sick individual. May this all be resolved soon, and let’s hope she gets the help she so obviously needs.
Ashley L. Lewis
December 5, 2013 at 1:10 amXXX-XXX-XXX this is the cell number she gave me to call her last month…I text her instead of calling..she answered
Vanessa
December 5, 2013 at 10:18 amHi Ashley, thank you so very much for your comment and support. The amount of understanding I’ve received from people who know this woman personally has been heartfelt. I can never thank you enough. However, as a former social services professional, I cannot in good faith allow Rebecca Kirkum’s private telephone number to be posted on my blog. It’s obvious this woman is deranged and needs mental (and possibly substance abuse?) help immediately. And I pray that her family is taking steps to get her those services. I promise to continue exerting my legal rights in every capacity available. Thank you again and again, from the bottom of my heart, for you willingness to take this matter personally. Sincerely, Vanessa of DeSuMama.com
elisa
December 3, 2013 at 6:27 pmMy second cousin shared this story on facebook and I am so glad she did! How absolutely horrific to read all of this and completely outraged that there are truly sick people out there willing to do this! Thank you for sharing this, I am now even more on alert with photos I post of myself and my husband (and if we had children as well)! Thank you for sharing!
Sarde roberts
December 3, 2013 at 7:31 pmOMG!!! I know her! She deleted half of her known friends off her fb because we where calling her out saying that wasn’t her kid. Ma’am I’m so sorry! I can’t believe this…totally shocking that she’s gone this far with it. She clearly has some issues of she has made herself believe that this is her child! Again I’m so sorry. Like I said half of her friends back home in Texas have been deleted or blocked because we knew she was a liar.
To Rebbeca,
Girl you need some help. This is some crazy stuff. It’s even more cray when your friends back home are reading about it on fb! Please stop it’s not funny or cute. Get some help please.
Shelly Valladolid
December 3, 2013 at 8:41 pmDoes this sick individual still have family (parents) in Texas? Maybe some of her old friends could get family to intervene. Real family, not imaginary. They could at least get her some help.
Amanda Her
December 3, 2013 at 8:56 pmOMG Vanessa…I am shocked and appalled. I can’t even imagine what I would do if this happened to me. Well, actually, thanks to you now I know. Put them on blast! Good job…and I hope this gets resolved soon.
Aimee
December 3, 2013 at 9:11 pmSo I just looked at her facebook page so the baby pics are your daughter too. OMG !!!! Just scares the mess out of me cause I do have pics of my lil diva too. Just sad. You are in my prayers. Maybe you can call the police down there. That has to be against some law. Contact facebook, twitter, instagram as well.
You are in my prayers.
Sili
December 3, 2013 at 9:45 pmI am so freaked out by this. It is a blogger’s nightmare. I am working on my recap for my daughter’s birthday and I don’t even want to put up some of the pics. Ugh. Girl, I hope this gets resolved and this woman takes your girl’s pictures down.
Theres Just One Mommy
December 3, 2013 at 10:41 pmAs a mom and a blogger, this is definitely something I think about. What a nightmare! I pray that the pictures get taken down. Keep standing up for your daughter and your family!
I’ve shared this on all my social media —
Carmen B
December 4, 2013 at 1:54 amMy heart goes out to you and your family. We teach our kids to be careful of what they post, because once it’s out there..it’s out everywhere! But how do we protect our kids from other’s who may “steal” their photos and do Lord knows what! Yes, as a mental health professional, this woman needs help, but as a mother and friend who cherishes you and your family, I want this woman to be accountable for her actions. I will post this on every social media account I have to expose this woman and protect you and your family’s identity and reputation.
Miss Annie
December 4, 2013 at 4:35 amMy heart goes out to your family, how horrifying this story. I too write a personal blog and share photos of my 10 year old son. I hope this gets rectified soon and I’m sharing your story on my various social media acounts. Once again my heart goes out to your family, so sorry to hear this terrible thing has occurred.
Reginia {PoisedinPrint.com}
December 4, 2013 at 4:37 amI am so very sorry that this has happened to you. Another blogger friend had this happen and lots of us rallied around her to plea for the removal of her daughter’s photos.
I hope this is sorted for you soon.
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide
December 4, 2013 at 6:46 amPraying (and sharing the heck out of this) for you and your family. Imagine any other profession being harassed like this?
From one blogging mama to another, hugs and strength to keep up the fight.
Roni Faida
December 4, 2013 at 8:31 amI think there must be mental health issues going on with this woman, because this behavior isn’t normal. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone suffering from illness when you are the recipient of their crazy but clearly she needs helps and prayer.
But this also shows us how we can’t put everything we want on social media. Of course we have the right to but there are crazy people out there that don’t care anything about our children. I was taught that watermarks should be in a place where they can’t be cropped out and that posting kid pics can be risky. I’m not blaming you because she was clearly wrong, but we do have to take responsibility for our actions.
I truly hope your family is ok and I do hope this woman gets help.
Vianney Rodriguez
December 4, 2013 at 1:09 pmI am so sorry Vanessa, how disturbing. I cannot believe this woman, vile. Sending prayers and lots of HUGS your way.
Shay Phillips
December 4, 2013 at 3:34 pmThis absolutely makes me ill…. and I just want to cry. On the other hand, I am sharing this with every person I know via social media as this is just sick. And laws must be passed to avoid this ever happening again. It is HORRIBLE!!. I will private message you at a later date, but as for right now; I am all about supporting you to end this nightmare my sweet friend! XOXOXO Shay
Blanca DD
December 4, 2013 at 8:01 pmomg what a nightmare! I’m so sorry this happened to you, I don’t know what to say, I’m new on all this blogger world, and I don’t trust everybody, that’s one of the reasons I don’t post full pictures of my girls, would be so mad if someone took my pictures to do something horrid like this woman did. I hope she gets what she deserves =(
hugs for you and your beautiful family.
Jen @ Girl in the Garage
December 4, 2013 at 10:11 pmThis story makes me sick. I am so sorry you are going through this, I cannot even imagine. Praying for this to be resolved quickly for you and your family! I will be sharing this on my social media as well.
What You Should Know About Protecting Your Images On Social Networks | LatinaBloggersConnect
December 5, 2013 at 12:27 am[…] Unfortunately, this is what happened to our very own Vanessa Bell of De Su Mama. While creating an amazing visual legacy for her babies and inspiring the masses to follow suit, leading to the creation of a community of legacy builders. Vanessa has had her most precious content stolen. Alerted by a friend, Vanessa found out the unimaginable. Images of her beautiful daughter were being stolen by some women for almost a year. It is extremely unfortunate that this is happening to Vanessa and her family and we support her in the fight to protect our online property, but especially protecting the identity of children online. Read her story and her open letter to the person in question. […]
Ashley L. Lewis
December 5, 2013 at 12:50 amRebecca is from McKinney, TX Abe went to McKinney North high school..she was crazy then and I see 9yrs later she still is..but this is just sick…ugh, now I’m wondering if she stole my daughter pics..considering she always admire her pics…
Felicita @Casamoncada
December 5, 2013 at 9:22 amI was involved in a similar situation where I woman pretended to be pregnant. A group of us moms from BabyCenter all formed a private group. The woman lied to us for over a year during her entire pregnancy. She stole pictures from her own cousin and posted the child as her own. THEN, she lied to us and said he DIED. We donated to a charity for childrenw ith heart defects. We mourn a child that wasn’t even dead! We finally caught on to this person lies when one of our members googled a paragraph from her blog. She was copying someone else’s life about the death of their daughter, Madison.
I could not believe there are sick people out there that would do this to people. I hope this stops for you. I still feel betrayed for having believe this woman. She was a teenager – who wanted to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. We did contact a private investigator as one of our members lived in the same state. I hope with time you can move on from this. I must say that I am SO MUCH MORE cautious after that experience.
If you want to talk more I am availanle via email.
Pilar-Enmicocinahoy
December 6, 2013 at 7:59 amVanessa,
Lo siento tanto, que horrible.
Un abrazo grande y mucha fuerza.
Sharing Pictures Of Children Online
December 9, 2013 at 2:55 am[…] and pinnable images. But recently, something terrible has happened to fellow blogger Vanessa at De Su Mama. Her children’s pictures got stolen- and the woman who did it impersonated the […]
Nat Marie
December 9, 2013 at 11:52 amWow…
WOW.
This is my first time on your blog, and I have NEVER seen something so heinous in my life. This woman is clearly jealous of the beautiful family that you have and is probably bitter because no one will deal with her. Especially now with her being exposed, she’s gonna be a very lonely lady.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Your daughter is beautiful by the way.
On and offline, these children are mine! « Being Honest « BLUNTmoms
December 13, 2013 at 11:01 am[…] This blogger is one I’ve always admired. She is a wonderful writer, a talented photographer, a beautiful person. She is on a mission to show that living in a biracial and bilingual family is normal and beautiful. As a mom who also has a multicultural family, I am more than grateful for her efforts, and she is one of my major influences. […]
Weather Anchor Mama
December 24, 2013 at 10:23 pmI checked the sites again. It looks like they removed the pics. Thank goodness.
Jessica
April 8, 2014 at 10:46 pmI found your post searching google tonight because unfortunately I have found myself in your shoes. This morning I found out that a woman has been posing as my children’s mother for more than a year and it sickens me. Truly sickens me. I am finding it hard to keep “ripping off the bandaid” as I keep finding more and it bothers me so much. It is so sad that this has happened to so many people out there. Thank you for being brave and posting about this on your blog.
LadyOutlaw
June 17, 2014 at 10:25 pmShe’s back at it again…stealing pictures from baby enter.com. I already posted the link to my fb page…I don’t understand how you can CATFISH that many people. Got a kid that’s almost your age, got two kids you claim are yours and reverse Google found your ass out…and making up a false baby daddy and stealing his pic too. I’m disgusted and I hope she gets help cuz none of us were raised to like that. Yes, I know her also.
Sunny
August 14, 2014 at 5:27 pmThis is currently happening to me and i am beyond upset and hurt. A 17 year old girl named Jordan Eliece Keyes from Virginia Beach, VA has stolen my 22 month old son’s pictures off my Instagram and is posting them claiming he is her nephew. She also has a friend named Marcus Grey on Facebook who has my son’s picture as part of his header along with another little girl (who i suspect is also a stolen image) say MY son is his son and he is this Jordan girls “Brother” hense my son being her nephew … i have contact her and him asking them to take the images down and of course they have not and have blocked me. I have contacted Instagram attempting to get the pictures removed and have yet to have that done as well. I have even found this 17 year old CHILDS mother from her Facebook page and messaged the mother and told her what is going on and sent her screen shot of the images of my son and a picture of myself with my son as proof he is my son and the mother just read the message and never replied. I do not understand how someone can do this and how another mother could allow their underage child to continue to do this. It is so fraustration that there is nothing legally we can do, that anyone can take a minor’s picture and post it and claim them as their own. I am sick to my stomach over this and pray it goes away. I pray for you as well because i know all to well how you feel
Nykesia Richardson
August 23, 2014 at 11:09 pmMy name is Nykesia I have known Rebecca ever since we were in middle school,and after I had my Daughter in 2009 she contacted me telling me about my daughter,cause she knows her father as well,didn’t think anythingof it,but this mmorning I got a text message asking did I know her from my child’s uncle (Dads brother) and of course I do know her.She posted a picture of my baby saying that my baby was hers and telling people that cps took her away from her,she was a friend of mine on Facebook with the same photo with the green contacts,but she blocked me so that I wouldn’t be able to see the post so I had to find out from someone else.I have been thinking about this all day.I heard she took it down after a lot of people attacked her about it.
Patti
September 3, 2014 at 4:13 pmThe same thig has just happened to me – it’s a man who did it – I contacted Facebook – nothing has been done yet – is there anything the local pd can do ?
Vanessa
September 8, 2014 at 11:19 amSo sorry Patti. My local pd would not take a report down, but advised me to continue to monitor the situations that would allow them to then contact her probation officer. Have everyone you know report the guy.
DSM 2013 In Review: Britax, Babble and Pursuit of Balance - De Su Mama
May 6, 2015 at 4:01 pm[…] and unfortunately, this year saw the theft of my beautiful baby girl’s images from the insane Rebecca Kirkum. While the support to get this jerk offline was astounding (I really learned who has my back and is […]
Sharing Photos Of Children Online: Eight Ways You Can Do It - expatsHaarlem
June 1, 2015 at 11:02 am[…] and pinnable images. But recently, something terrible has happened to fellow blogger Vanessa at De Su Mama. Her children’s pictures got stolen- and the woman who did it impersonated the children’s […]