Unfortunately, pregnancy photo-sharing has just taken an icky turn. And the bigger your bump, the more you seem to be a target.
Stars like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson have made an art form out of baring their bumps for pregnant ‘selfies’.
And the glowing pregnant form is one worth celebrating – to whom you choose.
The Australian Multiple Birth Association, New Zealand Multiple Birth Association and Multiple Births Canada, who cater for parents with twins, triplets or more, have warned each other of an online predator. He goes under the fake female name of ‘Afina Petrescu’ (and various others) and targets the ‘closed’ Facebook groups of multiple birth clubs and others groups to steal bump pics for a pregnancy fetish site.
Ali Mountifield, Communications Director for AMBA, said, “We have been informed of a bogus person joining or attempting to join Facebook groups and our administrators are on high alert. Pregnancy is a sacred time. Photos should be shared with whom you choose, in the way that you wish, not stolen for the gratification of others. We’ve issued warnings on AMBA’s Facebook page but we wanted to raise the alert as it’s an international problem and it’s not just related to those expecting twins, triplets or more.”
Carolyn Lister, President of New Zealand Multiple Birth Association (www.multiples.org.nz) has also issued a warning across the ditch. “I was first alerted to something suspicious as he joined two different clubs’ pages at the same time in different parts of the country. It was also odd he [posing as a ‘she’] actually asked for photos rather than just posting one. People often share pictures of their own accord rather than being asked. There are lots of multiple birth clubs around the world that have been hit. Afina’s profile has been removed – I reported it – but no doubt others will appear.”
