Meg Ireland, 25, who runs The Shutupmeg Blog, has decided to speak out about the issue.
Taking to Facebook, she shared a beautiful snapshot of her proudly showing off a blossoming baby bump.
She captioned the shot: “That time my bump went viral in a not so good way.”
Meg then went on to explain that her baby bump photos had been stolen and placed upon ‘preggophilia’ sites, which create porn specifically for people who are attracted to pregnant women.
Her post in full can be read below:
This bump pic along with around 15 other pictures of mine ended up on an online "preggophilia" site. Which is a porn site for people who like pregnant women.
I see so many people upload their bump pics and now I just gasp and hope to god they don't get into the hands of someone they shouldn't.
We shouldn't have to worry about people stealing our photos, but unfortunately it happens ALL THE TIME!
When I was scrolling through this god awful site trying to find where this thread was, I saw some pretty fucked up shit. People who were uploading pictures of their wife to other users, brother in laws uploading pictures of their sister in laws and women uploading pictures of their work colleagues!!!
I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Who was I to blame for this? People would say I should only blame myself for uploading "personal pictures" and that it was my own fault (even though my profile was then private). I see it differently.
I didn't care that someone had screen shot my photo to show someone, it's was what they did with my photo/s that made me physically sick to my stomach.
WHYYY should we have to sit and worry about this when uploading a photo on our social media sites?
Please be cautious about who follows/adds you. Block them if they look like a creepy MF.
Moral of the story, I totes want another bubba and a big Ol' belly like this again!
People were, unsurprisingly, horrified by her revelation.
“Sad that sick people do that with other people’s photos,” raged one.
Another added: “What the hell people? PREGGOPHILIA? Why is that a thing?”
And one more said: “What's wrong with people, honestly? Absolutely disgusting. I'd class it as paedophilia, as it’s men into pregnant women... weirdos.”
However, as others quite rightly pointed out, it’s not the sexual desire that is the problem here; it’s the fact that people are stealing the photos of pregnant strangers, and uploading their bumps onto ‘preggophilia’ sites without their knowledge or consent.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Meg explained that she first saw the pictures six to eight months ago after they were stolen from a regular online mother's group.
She said: “One person in the group was a fake and was using my picture to encourage other ladies to post pictures of their bellies so they could steal them and post them on these bizarre sites.
“I emailed the website after having to go through all the horrible content to try and find it... they took it down after I threatened legal action.
“I just want to spread awareness and make sure others realise there are these people out there targeting innocent pregnant women online.”
Are you shocked by this warning? Have you ever experienced something similar?
Let us know via Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.
Follow Meg's blog at The Shutupmeg Blog now.