Rebecca Bernardo
The teenager hoped to help her bed-ridden mother who is recovering from a stroke.

Catarina Migilorini made headlines across the globe when she auctioned off her virginity for $780,000, and now high school student Rebecca Bernardo has made the decision to put her deflowering up for sale.

In a video posted on YouTube, the 18-year-old explained that she is selling her virginity to raise money for her bedridden mother, who recently suffered a stroke. She has been listed on Virgins Wanted, the same Australian auction site used by Migilorini.

Bernardo, whose highest bid currently stands at $35,000, told CNN: "I made up my mind right after my 18th birthday. That's when my mother suffered a stroke."

The brunette teenager insists that's she reached out to Virgins Wanted after struggling to raise funds for her mother's medical bills. She claims that she tried working as a waitress, but she could afford to pay for a carer for her mother with her wages.

According to a neighbour, Bernardo has no family to turn to as her older sister passed away several years ago and she never knew her father.

"She had no one to go to, no one to help," the local resident told CNN. "This is the only solution she found."

Despite being determined to go through with it, Bernardo has yet to get the approval of her mother who thinks her daughter "should look for work."

"She shouldn't prostitute herself," she said.

The Sapeacu native has apparently faced harsh criticism from locals for offering her virginity to the highest bidder.

According to a mechanic from her hometown on the same day she posted the video, people began throwing coins at her in the street.

In October, Migilorini defended her decision to accept money in exchange for sex and denied that she was a prostitute.

She told the New York Daily News at the time: "If you only do it once in your life then you are not a prostitute, just like if you take one amazing photograph it does not automatically make you a photographer."

READ: Brazilian Student Catarina Migliorini Sells Virginity for £483,000

Catarina Migliorini Virginity Auction: Brazil Locked in Prostitution Debate

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