Fake Medical Moms

Munchausen syndrome by proxy has become a cultural fetish—and it says a lot about our fears of the maternal relationship.

*cw: discussion of child abuse

In 2015, the year I became a mother, blogger Lacey Spears was convicted of killing her 5-year-old son by feeding him toxic amounts of salt. Prior to her son’s death, Spears chronicled the boy’s false illness on her blog and on social media. Patricia Murphy, an assistant district attorney on the case, said that Spears “appar…