Taubaté pregnancy hoax (Grávida de Taubaté)

JAN 15 2012

In January 2012 Maria Verônica Aparecida César Santos claimed to be pregnant with quadruplets, gaining major coverage on TV Globo, Folha de S.Paulo, RedeTV! and Record TV, where she received sponsor gifts. Reporter Michael Keller discovered the ultrasound she presented had been copied from the internet and edited; on 15 January Domingo Espetacular aired evidence she was not pregnant, and her lawyer confirmed the hoax on 20 January. She became the meme 'Grávida de Taubaté', spawning the format 'X de Taubaté' to denote hoaxes.