Fake News: Sperm Bank Nurse Did NOT Get Pregnant After Not Washing Hands Properly

Fact Check

  • by: Maarten Schenk
Fake News: Sperm Bank Nurse Did NOT Get Pregnant After Not Washing Hands Properly

Did sperm bank nurse Kim Joyce get pregnant after not properly washing her hands at work and accidentally touching her genitals during a toilet break? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Spanish website that invents tales about bizarre incidents for entertainment purposes that also carries a well-hidden "satire" disclaimer which is very hard to reach because of infinite scrolling on the site. The story is not real.

The story appeared in an article published on September 2, 2018 on the website There Is News titled "Sperm bank nurse gets pregnant after not washing her hands properly" (archived here) which opened:

A nurse in a fertility center, whom is in charge of managing sperm bank, has accidentally become pregnant after manipulate some samples and not wash their hands properly.

The curious case took place a few weeks ago, Kim Joyce was simply doing her job like any other days, but she made a mistake, after collect and store some samples she didn't wash her hands as recommended the security protocol. Later, she had to go to the bathroom and when she got clean, she made direct contact with her genitals, so unlucky she become pregnant.

Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail and they potentially confused it with a real news article:

Sperm bank nurse gets pregnant after not washing her hands properly

A nurse in a fertility center, whom is in charge of managing sperm bank, has accidentally become pregnant after manipulate some samples and not wash their hands properly. The curious case took place a few weeks ago, Kim Joyce was simply doing her job like any other days, but she made a mistake, after collect and

However it is just an English translation of an earlier story on the Spanish language version of the site:

Enfermera del banco de semen se queda embarazada por no lavarse bien las manos

Una enfermera de un centro de fertilidad, encargada de gestionar el banco de semen, se ha quedado embarazada sin querer tras no lavarse correctamente las manos tras manipular unas muestras. El curioso caso tuvo lugar hace unas semanas, C.M.

And that story in turn stole the picture of military nurse Stacy Thomas who thwarted a robbery in 2012:

Keesler nurse thwarts robbery of elderly lady

Don't mess with an Air Force nurse.That may be what a purse-snatcher thought after 2nd Lt. Stacy Thomas and a friend thwarted an attempted theft May 24 in the William Carey University campus parking lot near here.Thomas, an 81st Inpatient Operations,

The site There Is News also carries a "Legal Warging" (archived here) that reads:

Legal Warging

The site "There is news" (http://thereisnews.es) (hereinafter referred to as TIN) is a humor site whose purpose is entertainment.

The content of TIN is fiction and does not correspond to reality.

All references, names, brands or institutions that appear on the site are used as contextual elements, as in any novel or fiction account.

The site is the English language version of the Spanish satire site Hay Noticia, which is owned by Spanish humor website/collective La Fabrica de la Comedia S.C.

We wrote about thereisnews.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:

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  Maarten Schenk

Lead Stories co-founder Maarten Schenk is our resident expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.  He can often be found at conferences and events about fake news, disinformation and fact checking when he is not in his office in Belgium monitoring and tracking the latest fake article to go viral.

Read more about or contact Maarten Schenk

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