Sapeacu , Brazil ( CNN ) -- Shopkeepers and school children in this remote Brazilian farming town giggle and point when Rebecca Bernardo pedals by on her rusty red bicycle . The unwanted attention started a few months ago when the Brazilian high school student posted a video on YouTube . Wearing a sleeveless pink top and standing next to a mirror showing her profile as she speaks , Bernardo announces to the camera , `` Hi , my name is Rebecca . I 'm here to auction off my virginity . '' Bernardo told CNN she made the offer because she was desperate to help her ailing mother . She heard about Catarina Migliorini , a Brazilian woman who reportedly sold her virginity for $ 780,000 on an Australian website seeking virgins . Migliorini has reportedly yet to finalize the deal and receive the money , and Brazil is reportedly investigating whether the website should be charged with human trafficking . Nevertheless , Migliorini has received widespread publicity and modeling contracts -- including a spread in Brazil 's version of Playboy magazine . `` I made up my mind right after my 18th birthday , '' Bernardo said in an interview with CNN last month in her small , one-bedroom house . `` That 's when my mother suffered a stroke . '' The stroke left her mother bed-ridden , unable to feed herself or go to the bathroom alone . Bernardo said she looked for jobs and tried selling cosmetics and working as a waitress , but without a high school degree , the pay was minimal . `` I would get 150 reais ( $ 75 ) for working all day , which would just pay the salary of someone to stay with my mother , '' she said , after patiently feeding her mother a plate of reheated spaghetti . `` There comes a time when you have to make decisions to get what you want . You have to be strong . '' About a month ago , she said she used a friend 's YouTube account to post the video of her offer , which she said got 3,000 hits on the first day . YouTube has taken the post down and the account associated with it `` due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement , '' although it has been widely reposted on the video sharing site . There are questions surrounding the authenticity of Bernardo 's altruism . A Brazilian TV network offered to pay for her mother 's medical expenses if Bernardo called off the auction . While she initially accepted the offer during a television interview , she later rejected it because the network would not pay for a house in a different town where she could `` start a new life . '' There are also questions about whether her offer to auction off her virginity is just a ploy to attract media attention that could lead to lucrative deals . In October , Bernardo posted a YouTube video auditioning for the next installment of the Brazilian version of `` Big Brother , '' which offers a $ 500,000 prize to the last housemate left on the show . In the video , she talks about her hobbies and says that if she wins , she will use the money to help her ailing mother . She later told TV Globo , which produces the Brazilian version of the show , that she has n't registered to be a contestant . Bernardo said she has received several bids for her virginity -- the highest one for 70,000 reais , or $ 35,000 . Prostitution is legal in Brazil . Bernardo 's video initially set off a firestorm in her hometown , echoing across the country . `` When she started the auction , people in the street threw coins at her when she went by , '' said a local mechanic . `` But I never looked at her differently . '' Today , attitudes in Sapeacu are shifting , thanks in part to the national attention her story is getting . Her neighbors seemed largely sympathetic , noting that Bernardo 's only sister died young and that she never knew her father . `` She had no one to go to , no one to help , so this is the only solution she found , '' said one neighbor . `` Everyone has the right to decide what to do with their own body , even if that 's not the choice I would make , '' said another . But her mother , speaking with difficulty from her bed with her daughter sitting beside her , said she is devastated . `` It 's wrong , it 's wrong ! '' she said . `` She should look for work , she should n't prostitute herself . '' Yet , as her mother 's sole caregiver , Bernardo insists she has few options . `` It 's a lot of responsibility to face alone , '' she said , wiping away tears . `` I 'm not really prepared . '' Lurid journey through Backpage.com . 2009 : Virginity for sale . Opinion : State ban on sex listings is dangerous . CNN 's Marilia Brocchetto reported from Atlanta , Georgia , and CNN 's Shasta Darlington reported from Sapeacu , Brazil .
18-year-old Brazilian girl is auctioning off her virginity on YouTube . The video shows the young woman being auctioned off, with a price tag of $100. A TV network offered to pay for her mother 's medical expenses . The deal fell through because Bernardo wanted money for a new house .