Netflix's 'Un hijo propio' revisits 2009 baby theft case

Netflix's documentary 'Un hijo propio' revisits the 2009 case of Eleonor Alejandra Marín Mendoza, a Mexico City hospital worker who faked a pregnancy and abducted a newborn. Directed by Maite Alberdi, the film premiered on August 13 and is among 17 titles vying to represent Mexico at the Oscars and Goyas Source: Infobae.

The case

On June 17, 2009, Marín, then 26, took a day-old baby from the Hospital General de México, hiding her in a paper bag. Police found the infant unharmed hours later in a hotel with Marín and her husband, Arturo Calderón Gamiño Source: Excélsior. Marín claimed the biological mother, Mayra Aurora Navarro Vega, had given her the baby, but Navarro denied this, saying Marín posed as a social worker Source: Clarín.

The sentence

Marín was convicted of child abduction and sentenced to over 13 years in prison, served at Santa Martha Acatitla Source: La Voz. She was released in 2023 Source: Clarín. Her husband was also detained for over two years but acquitted Source: La Voz.

The film's focus

Alberdi, who met Marín in prison while working on another project, uses dramatizations and interviews to explore the social pressure on women to become mothers, a theme she calls "universal" Source: Infobae. The film contrasts Marín's account with official records and the mother's testimony Source: Milenio. Actress Ana Celeste Montalvo, who plays Marín, said she gained 10 kilos and isolated herself to embody the role Source: Emol.

Disagreement

Sources differ on the sentence length: some report 13 years and four months Source: Infobae, others over 13 years Source: Clarín, and one says more than 10 years Source: Excélsior. Marín maintains her innocence, claiming the baby was a gift Source: Milenio.