‘Baby Doe’: Pregnancy Denial—America’s Unresolved Issue

If Gail Ritchey’s baby was in fact not stillborn, that’s a level of denial that’s hard to imagine. Where is the tipping point when denial becomes murder?

Gail Eastwood-Ritchey in court in the documentary "Baby Doe." Lunamax Films/Twin Seas Media

NR | 1h 40m | Documentary | 2026

Denial is a strange and powerful state of mind. “Baby Doe” is a documentary about pregnancy denial, its consequences, and our current legal system’s way of dealing with it.

The film starts by showing an ostensibly happy family playing board games. Soon after, a police video shows the mother, Gail Eastwood-Ritchey, being questioned by the police in her driveway.

When the detective asks whether she has any clue as to what this might be about, she serenely answers, “A baby that was left.” Her calm demeanor is both chilling in its emotional detachment and convincing (which is also chilling) in its sincerity and apparent guilelessness.

Gail Eastwood-Ritchey in the documentary "Baby Doe." Lunamax Films/Twin Seas Media

A dead baby was found by the side of the road. According to new DNA technology—it’s unmistakably hers. The rest of the documentary is an empathetic but gut-wrenching exploration of the little-known phenomena of pregnancy denial and its societal and legal ramifications.

‘Geauga’s Child’

The unidentified baby died in 1993, almost two decades before Ritchey’s arrest. It soon became known as “Geauga’s Child,” since it was found in Ohio’s highly conservative Thompson Township, in Geauga County. The documentary follows Ritchey’s subsequent murder trial.

The quiet, unassuming Gail, described as being deeply devoted to family and community, sticks to her story—that she was clueless that she was pregnant. When she eventually gave birth to a stillborn infant in a toilet, it made no noise whatsoever. She can’t remember why, but she didn’t even look in its direction. Then, it comes to light that this wasn’t the first time. She previously gave birth to another baby who likewise didn’t survive.

It’s unclear when the young Gail panicked, was in a disassociated or compromised psychological state, or both, but she disposed of the second infant by putting it in a garbage bag. Soon after, she married Mark Ritchey, the father of, as she says, “all the children.” Mark maintains that he was entirely unaware of the births of the two dead children. They had three more children together and are currently grandparents.

The Possibility and Evidence of Live Birth

The film follows Gail’s trial engagingly in a way that that allies viewers with her point of view. The most telling and convincing segments are between Ritchey and her lawyers. Of course, we see only what they want us to see, but their questioning of her makes it clear that she was in deep denial of her pregnancy and remains detached from the proceedings even as she goes to trial. She took a pregnancy test, and even though it came out positive, she says, “I don’t remember thinking that I was pregnant.” One of her lawyers says, “I need to get my head wrapped around this. This sounds so insane.”

Despite Gail’s claims of a stillbirth, the legal and medical consensus at trial established that there was a distinct possibility that the 1993 child was born alive. The Cuyahoga County Chief Deputy Medical Examiner testified that microscopic evaluations of the baby’s lung tissue showed inflated alveoli (air sacks), proving the infant had indeed drawn a breath outside the womb. While defense experts countered that the lung inflation could have been a byproduct of decomposition, the jury ultimately favored the prosecution’s forensic evidence, and convicted Ritchey of murder.

Disturbing Questions

Director Earnshaw intends to take us beyond the confusion. A forensic psychologist adds ballast by speaking to research on the psychological phenomenon of pregnancy denial and how it affects women in distress. She discloses that women who experience this are generally so deeply troubled, the births lead to desperate acts. Furthermore, due to the underlying psychological issues never being resolved, they often get in repetitive scenarios.

Gail Ritchey’s situation is tailor-made to fit this description. Young, impressionable, a member of a church youth-group, she was deeply devout. Convinced that premarital sex was sinful, she disassociated herself from the reality of her pregnancies.

Ritchey is now incarcerated. We see Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David M. Ondrey hand down a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. He labels her behavior monstrous, but also acknowledges the righteous and respectable life she’s lived since.

What Earnshaw may have intended as the point of the whole documentary is summed up when Judge Ondrey says, “I can’t rationalize these two Gail Ritcheys.” Did he mean “reconcile?” Ritchey’s actions were beyond reason—in other words, a deep psychological issue bypassed rationality. If it was indeed the case that the baby was not stillborn, that’s a level of denial that’s very hard to wrap one’s head around. Where is the tipping point when denial becomes murder?

Reassessment and Revision

The film’s message is clear: We’re in need of more nuance in the American justice system. One soon realizes that Gail’s story happens far more often than we’d like to admit to ourselves. We have a collective form of pregnancy denial going happening in America.

Early in the 20th century Soviets used Cultural Marxism to undermine the sacred institution of marriage in America. They encouraged premarital sex, which is now rampant in our culture. Monogamous, faithful marriage has crumbled to its foundations and young women are caught in a vice. On one side is pressure from the church communities to remain pure, and on the other is pressure from American youth culture (and movies and popular music) to have sex. Gail’s husband Mark admits he was the one pressuring her. She wanted to please him.

“Baby Doe” is really a plea for reform regarding such cases. In a similar case, the female judge pronounced the defendant redeemable and gave her a reduced sentence. “Baby Doe” asks us for more empathy, therapy, and resources for women in such dire straits. It demands men fully share in the burden of childbirth, and hopes for more support and compassion from communities.

Promotional poster for the documentary "Baby Doe." Lunamax Films/Twin Seas Media

‘Baby Doe’ Director: Jessica Earnshaw Documentary Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes Release Date: July 10, 2026 Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

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