Teen Virgin Puts Deflowering on Auction Block to Help Ailing Mother
Inspired by a fellow Brazilian who raised nearly $800,000 by putting her virginity up for sale, Rebecca Bernardo decided to try her luck offering up her deflowering to the highest bidder.
But unlike Catarina Migliorini, who agreed to the stunt in hopes of finding fame and fortune, 18-year-old Bernardo is hoping to raise enough money to cover her ailing mother's mounting medical expenses.
"I made up my mind right after my 18th birthday," Bernardo told CNN. "That's when my mother suffered a stroke."
The teen claims to have exhausted more legitimate means of earning the money, but the cost of paying for a caretaker to look after her bedridden mother proved too high.
"She had no one to go to, no one to help," said a neighbor, noting that Bernardo's older sister passed away several years ago and her father is lone gone. "This is the only solution she found."
Not so says Bernardo's mother, who thinks her daughter "shouldn't prostitute herself."
But Bernardo is pressing on, bolstered by a high bid of $35,000.
She recently rejected a local TV network's offer to cover her mom's medical bills if she pulled the plug on the auction, saying she was also looking to fund a relocation.
