Jennifer McKinney (MckMama)

[Curious]

Summary provided by:ceg045

Jennifer Sauls McKinney, commonly known as MckMama, is a high-profile Christian “mommy blogger” from Minnesota. She is married to Israel McKinney, a contractor, and together they have five children: Kieran (also known as Big Mac), Cullen (also known as Nuggey), Maisy (also known as Small Fry), Stellan, and Lachlan (also known as Flurry). She first gained national attention in 2008, as she documented her high-risk pregnancy with Stellan. Stellan was diagnosed with heart disease called supraventricular tachycardia (or SVT) in utero and was not expected to live long after birth, but was born seemingly healthy. Shortly afterward, however, the SVT reasserted itself. The family temporarily relocated to Boston for Stellan’s treatments. After apparently serious complications, Stellan underwent successful heart surgery in November 2009 and has not been seriously ill since.

With constant calls for prayers from sympathetic bloggers, Stellan’s story went viral and McKinney’s blog surged in popularity. She completed interviews with several local TV stations and newspapers, Woman’s World Magazine, and produced webinars for Focus on the Family. With increased popularity came increased scrutiny and many readers began questioning McKinney’s blogging tactics (including cryptic, dramatic “cliffhanger” posts to increase clicks and blog revenue) and truthfulness. Controversies have included charges of plagiarism (in which McKinney adapted large blocks of text from a photography tutorial and presented it as her own writing), questions about the McKinney finances (the McKinneys, over $700,000 in debt, filed for bankruptcy in December 2011; after a hearing, the discharge of debts was denied in court) and marriage (the pair legally separated in April 2012 in the midst of the bankruptcy filing, but reconciled in the autumn of 2012), and seemingly careless or controversial childrearing practices and life choices.

Most recently, McKinney has become a seller of Xyinglar, a weight loss supplement often accused of being a multilevel marketing scheme. Touting her own weight loss as proof of “Xyng’s” effectiveness, McKinney drew upon her own large readership to sell the product and is currently among the top-ranked sellers. McKinney closed her blog (previously found at mycharmingkids.net) in September 2012 and now primarily operates through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media outlets.

A blog/website, now known as MckMama Without Pity, or MWOP, was established to provide evidence of lies and inconsistencies perpetrated by Jennifer McKinney, as well as a discussion area. More information on specific instances of McKinney’s can be found at mckmamatruths.com/.

MckMama on Facebook: facebook.com/pages/MckMama/269148616733?ref=ts&fref=ts

MckMama on Twitter: twitter.com/MckMama

MckMama on Instragram: web.stagram.com/n/mckmama77/