Phantom Pregnancies
Getting married and having children are important rites of passage in Indonesia. So great is the pressure to produce offspring, that couples unable to conceive children may feel they have failed. This makes them easy prey for scam artists posing as religious or other healers.
Mimi (40) and Parmin (41) tried to have a baby since their marriage in 2009, but without success. Last year, one of the friends of Mimi advised the couple to visit an alternative medicine clinic located in Mangga Dua Square mall in North Jakarta.
The clinic, called Hawa Murni (Pure Air), was opened in January 2013 by a man named Timotius Hengky Santoso (57), who also said Romo (Father, as in "Priest"). Like so many other charlatans posing as healers, he claimed he could cure a range of diseases and help infertile couples achieve pregnancy.
Romo told the women they get pregnant after 14 sessions of treatment in seven months. Each session costs Rp.300,000 including Rp.50,000 for the hands on treatment and Rp.250,000 for 20 capsules of "drug". Local media reported that some of the drugs was weight gain pills for cattle. The "medicine" especially for fattening cattle is a steroid called Oradexon, which can also be taken by humans to treat inflammatory and allergic disorders. It was also distributed to young prostitutes to their buttocks and breasts bigger.
Mimi began fertility treatment in July 2013. This involved Romo placing her hands on her belly, saying he was channeling pure energy in his body. After each session of this gibberish, and Mimi Parmin were sold 20 capsules and told to take 10 each.
Women seeking to become pregnant were ordered not to drink ice water and avoid certain foods, such as tomatoes, peppers, durian, stink beans, jengkol (dogfruit beans ) and bananas. The . cost of the 14 sessions of nonsense Romo was Rp.4.2 million. Some women paid more.
Pademangan Sector Police Chief, Commissioner Andri Ananta said Romo convinced women that they were pregnant and asked them to close their eyes and pray, then changed their urine samples with the urine of women who were actually pregnant.
Romo told his patients not to visit doctors or hospitals suitable for pregnancy or ultrasound tests, claiming these exams thwart pregnancy. In her seventh month of "pregnancy", Mimi defied the orders of Romo and went to a real doctor, who informed him that the weight she had gained was entirely the result of the pills and diet.
Other patients also have pregnancy tests and Romo reported to the police. He was arrested on February 25. He was unable to practice medicine. Police said he earned about Rp.18 million per month from his clinic and had duped at least 100 women. He was accused of fraud and could face four years in prison.
Romo said he learned his "medical expertise" of his grandfather. Before conning women in Mangga Dua Square, he had a clinic in Jati Bening, Bekasi, for only three months.
One of the victims, Anti (37), said she had spent Rp.20 million on salaries and unnecessary pills. She was curious about the capsule and had a little tested in a laboratory, only to be told they were fattening cattle.
Long before the arrest of Romo, a patient blogged in August 2013 that he was a fraud. Later, a group of women posting on ibuhamil.com discussed its effectiveness. A woman asked why she still menstruating when Romo had said she was pregnant. In December, most women knew he was a fraud, although it is still insisted his government had made her pregnant. Another explained that the fetus can be created by the will of God.
A 32 year old victim said Romo told him he could accelerate the process of fertility if she accompanied him to a hotel room. She refused. Yet she continued to take "medicine", even if it affects his appetite and it was difficult for her to speak.
Such fraud is common in Indonesia, where all kinds of quackery is masqueraded as fertility treatment. One reason why childless couples resort to quacks is that in vitro fertilization (IVF), in which conception occurs in a Petri dish, the cost Rp.45 million and above. Couples who can afford IVF treatment usually choose to go to Singapore or abroad, while those with less money are more likely to rely on the power of prayer or magic potions.