We're going back to the beginning with an extended version of our very first episode! Be sure to stay tuned until the end for a special postscript with Andrea as she gives a behind-the-scenes look at how this show began.

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We meet accomplished novelist and loving mother Andrea Dunlop as she embarks on a journey to understand the series of events that tore her family apart. We learn that her older sister has been investigated twice for Munchausen by Proxy abuse, which inspired Andrea to learn everything she could about this complex and misunderstood issue. We see Andrea become captivated by the story of Hope Ybarra and go along with her to meet Hope’s father, sister, and brother: the first people Andrea has ever spoken to who’ve actually lived through a case. But can anything prepare Andrea for the truth?

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

 Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

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In this bonus episode you’ll hear host Andrea Dunlop's full interview with Dr. Sally Smith’s son, Patrick. They discuss the impact of the slanted and sensationalized media coverage of Dr. Sally Smith’s work on him and his family. Patrick shares his pride in his mother's career as well as fears over the impact of the media coverage and the verdict in the Kowalski case.  

The full unbridged interview with Dr. Sally Smith will be available to subscribers.  

In the meantime, we are hard at work on season 4, stay tuned and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.  

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Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

*** 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this bonus episode you’ll hear host Andrea Dunlop's full interview with Ethen Shapiro, lead attorney for John Hopkins All Childrens Hospital. Shapiro offers shocking insights into the trial and the media coverage of the Kowalski case, as well as what’s next for the defense team.  

We are hard at work on season 4, stay tuned and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.  

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Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

***

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this bonus episode you’ll hear host Andrea Dunlop's full interview with friend of the show Detective Mike Weber.  

Mike—who wrote the FBI guidelines on investigating medical child abuse—digs into the police report about Maya Kowalski and helps Andrea put it in context, revealing the serious and disturbing nature of the case.  

NOTE: We recorded this interview in September before the Kowalski v Johns Hopkins All Childrens trial, so information revealed during the trial will not be reflected.  

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More about Mike Weber: https://mikeweberconsulting.com/  

Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

*** 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the third and final installment of our exclusive interview with Dr. Sally Smith, she shares her side of what happened in the Maya Kowalski case, revealing how perilous Maya’s situation truly was when she originally arrived at Johns Hopkins All Childrens in October of 2016.  

Dr. Sally Smith also reveals, for the first time, the details of the multi-million-dollar settlement with the Kowalski family and shares the impact that this case could have on medical providers and abused children going forward.  

And finally Dr. Sally Smith disclosess her concerns and her hopes for Maya and Kyle Kowalski—the two children thrust into the national spotlight by their father’s lawsuit—and lastly, her reflections on the work she’s devoted her life to.  

***

Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

*** 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the second part of our exclusive interview with Dr. Sally Smith, we discuss how the media coverage of her reached a fever pitch and turned her life and career upside down. We explore how not only the Netflix film but a high-profile piece in New York Magazine rewrote the narrative of the Kowalski case and Dr. Smith’s involvement to cast her as a villain. 

We unpack the stories of the four other families in the Netflix film—featured as examples of “false allegations” made by Dr. Smith—and uncover the more complicated truth about what happened to the children involved. 

We hear from Dr. Smith about how the media has stoked outrage and real-life threats and harassment against her, her coworkers, and her family. 

We see the horrifying truth that what happened to Dr. Sally Smith could happen to any doctor in her position; looking at how the conspiracy theory of “medical kidnapping” is being constructed and affirmed by media on both sides of the political spectrum.  

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Read Dyan Neary's New York Magazine piece here:

https://www.thecut.com/article/child-abuse-munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy.html

Watch the full video of John Stewart here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@blind_gossip/video/7295142757612588334?_r=1&_t=8gwrdSfC298 

Records of the four families covered in the film here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FpSFjvX_8WB5cgPCI0E_cpXj1jaeVcC4?usp=sharing

Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

* * *

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In an exclusive interview with Dr. Sally Smith, host Andrea Dunlop travels to Florida to speak to the embattled child abuse pediatrician about her life and work and the Maya Kowalski case that saw her cast as the villain of a Netflix film.  

We get an inside look into Dr. Smith’s groundbreaking career as one of America's first board-certified child abuse pediatricians. We learn what it was like to face some of the most difficult cases imaginable all while raising two children of her own. And we see how the toughness necessary for her work led her to be ruthlessly judged in the public eye.  

This must-listen first installment of our season finale sets the stage for explosive revelations about the Kowalski case, the four other “falsely accused” families in the Netflix film, and much more.  

***

Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

* * *

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this bonus episode, host Andrea interviews regular guest and friend of the show Jordyn Hope, a survivor of Munchausen by proxy abuse. Jo shares their personal story of revelations of abuse and recounts the emotional toll of constantly having to prove their own sickness. 

Andrea and Jo discuss the Maya Kowalski case and Jo provides insight into the parent-child dynamics, including the enmeshment, lack of boundaries, and parentification often seen in abusive situations. Andrea and Jo grapple with the complicated feelings around Maya's continued defense of her mother.  

Jo also opens up about how painful it is for survivors to hear their abuse erased and denied. They offer a message of validation and fight to other survivors struggling with self-doubt in the wake of this high-profile case. This is a thoughtful, nuanced discussion around the themes of voice, compassion, and the ripple effects of denying abuse. 

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Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com  

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266  

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

*** 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Andrea examines how the harrowing and complex story of the Maya Kowalski case turned into a pop culture moment, and spread dangerous misinformation in the process.  

We continue our conversation with Ethen Shapiro, lead attorney for Johns Hopkins All Childrens, about how the media coverage of this case got so out of hand and the risks it poses to doctors and children going forward.   

We take a deeper look at how entertainment reporter Caitlin Keating stumbled onto the story at her job at People Magazine, and despite her questionable grasp of medical child abuse issues, made a movie about a complicated case that was subsequently viewed by millions of people.  

Andrea shares revelations from Beata Kowalski's blog, written disturbingly in her young daughter Maya's voice, and wonders how anyone can ignore its terrifying contents.  

Stay tuned for a sneak peek of our exclusive interview featured in our season finale. 

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Read Beata’s blog: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FpSFjvX_8WB5cgPCI0E_cpXj1jaeVcC4?usp=drive_link  

Megan Fox YouTube interview with Gregory Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22eytc7v8oc&t=9693s  

Kat and Nat Unfiltered: https://catandnat.ca/new-blog/hhttps/openspotifycom/take-care-of-maya-with-caitlin-keating  

Guys We Fucked podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbosK25e7U  

Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com 

 ***

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just when we thought the endless saga of Kowalski v Johns Hopkins All Childrens was over...it turns out it might only be beginning. 

In this episode, lead attorney for the Johns Hopkins All Childrens defense team, Ethen Shapiro, offers an insider's perspective on what happened in during the trial and what’s happened in the wake of it. 

Tina and Andrea discuss newly introduced evidence including Beata's requests to increase medications despite risks, Dr. Kirkpatrick's questionable diagnostic process, and communications illuminating Beata's substantial role in daughter Maya's care.  

Shapiro unpacks how harmful the verdict is for healthcare providers now unsure about reporting potential abuse and explains why the media coverage of this case and others like it is asymmetrical warfare. 

 We discuss the motion for a new trial based on juror misconduct, what happens next, and what it all means. 

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Read Beata's emails and view Ethen Shapiro's slide deck laying out the case: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FpSFjvX_8WB5cgPCI0E_cpXj1jaeVcC4?usp=sharing

Watch Ethen Shapiro's closing arguments on Law & Crime's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HBYKAN3BxM

 Munchausen Support accepts donations and volunteers at www.munchausensupport.com 

 If you have a story about medical child abuse that you are ready to share you can tag @andreadunlop, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (484) 768-0266 

***

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

***

Follow host Andrea Dunlop on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop 

Buy Andrea’s books here. 

Download the APSAC's practice guidelines here. 

Note: This episode contains sensitive content related to child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices