When Common Sense is Overruled

Picture this: a glowing advertisement for a pregnancy test. The suspense builds as a woman, eyes wide with hope, waits for those two magical lines to appear. The moment they do, her life transforms instantly. Tears of joy, uncontrollable laughter, and exclamations of “We’re pregnant!” fill the air. It’s a universal scene, depicting the profound impact of a positive pregnancy test on those longing for a child.

Now, flip the script. Imagine a teenager, trembling as they reveal a positive pregnancy test to their parents. Is the response ever a casual, “It’s no big deal, go back to your homework”? Absolutely not. This universal acknowledgment of the gravity of a positive pregnancy test is why companies like First Response, Clearblue, E.P.T., and Accu-Clear thrive.

The Absurdity of The Ruling

Judge Julie Ann Mata of the Maricopa County Superior Court seems to think that a positive pregnancy test doesn’t mean what the rest of the world thinks it does. She thinks it doesn’t mean you’re pregnant.

Despite my providing the court with multiple at-home tests, a urine pregnancy test done at an urgent care facility, and even a blood test for pregnancy done at a lab— all of which came back positive — Judge Mata in essence dismissed all of this evidence as meaningless.

In addition, a renowned OB/GYN who delivered 22,000 babies in his career testified with 99.9% certainty that I was pregnant. Despite this, the judge decided to believe the 0.1% chance that I was testing positive for other reasons. She suggested possibilities such as ovarian cancer (which I’ve never had), medications I’m on (which the OB/GYN expert confirmed wouldn’t cause false positives), or HCG trigger shots (which I’ve never taken, and there was no evidence to suggest otherwise). If 99.9% certainty isn’t enough, what is? I speak more about this in another piece I wrote called “When Judges Play Doctor”.

After a doctor confirmed that I had miscarried, there was no longer a need for the paternity case that I had filed last August. I tried to dismiss it last December, which the judge granted, but then rescinded her ruling. After extensive Motions were filed and a brief evidentiary hearing on June 10th, her ruling came down on June 18th: sanctions, attorney’s fees (despite neither the alleged father nor I being represented by lawyers at the time I filed to withdraw my Petition to Establish Paternity), and a referral to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.

Why? According to the ruling, “Petitioner acted unreasonably when she initiated litigation without basis or merit.” Furthermore, the court found my actions “unreasonable and uncreditable [sic]” due to my “failure to seek in-person care for a high-risk pregnancy”.

Judge Mata even verified the positive pregnancy tests multiple times as “facts” in her “Findings of Fact”. How is my filing the case “without basis or merit” or “unreasonable”?

Furthermore, the ruling declared my petition “premature at best”, even though there are no set standards for what constitutes a “premature” petition in such cases.

The Double Standard

To fully grasp the injustice of this ruling, consider how Arizona typically handles paternity cases. According to the Arizona Revised Statutes § 25–801, a mother can file a paternity case based on her belief of the pregnancy, and no additional evidence is required. You can file while you’re pregnant, which I did. This clearly shows the state’s supportive approach rather than a punitive one.

The Arizona Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) website says, “If you are unsure of paternity, genetic testing may be needed to prove the identity of the father. DCSS will pay this cost until paternity is established.”

Wait, so a woman can think, “Eh, might be this guy, but probably not. I can’t really remember what we did,” as many times as she wants to and not be punished? The state will even pay the cost of testing until she gets it right?!

So why am I being punished?

(Side note to members of the media: I will send you my patient portal login information so you can confirm for yourself that I was just in filing the case…seriously)

The Back Story

Let’s backtrack a bit. I had a one-night stand with former Bachelor star, Clayton Echard, who also happened to be my realtor. Interestingly, he was later found in violation by the Arizona Department of Real Estate for not submitting offers on two properties that he had me sign, totaling $1.1 million. But that’s another story.

I didn’t want to become pregnant — AT ALL. I told him after he invited me to his apartment late one night in May of 2023 that I would come over to “cuddle”, but that I .

A couple of weeks after the positive pregnancy test at an urgent care facility, Clayton again invited me to his apartment, this time under false pretenses, telling me he just wanted to talk. .

His reaction? Devastated. He leaned over on his counter, head in his hands. This wasn’t the behavior of someone who believed the test meant nothing.

However, according to what Clayton said in his deposition, “the box said it was a pregnancy test”, and that, (at :40 ).

Wait a minute… a pregnancy test that Clayton himself purchased gave a positive result, but it wasn’t accurate because I was supposedly lying, and the test somehow detected that?

Makes sense.

Why I Filed the Case

After Clayton saw the results for himself, he texted me the next morning to say that he knew I wasn’t a liar. Then, he made it clear that he had no intention of co-parenting, which is what I wanted. I wanted nothing from him besides that: no money, nothing. Just a plan to figure out scheduling because

During his deposition earlier this year, he said, (at 3:15).

My former attorney then asked, “You would give her a chance in regards to the two of you having a relationship?”

Clayton responded, “Yes, it was a lie. I had no intention of giving her a chance. I was just basically going to tell her what she wanted to hear to see if she’d go away.”

When pressed further by my former attorney, “And what you mean by that is to see if she would move forward with an abortion?”

Clayton’s reply was chillingly simple: “Yeah.”

Why I “Went Public” With the Case

I went public with the case . I had paid for the test on August 15th, but despite my efforts to schedule it, he never complied,

Also during his deposition, Clayton acknowledged the attempts to contact him for the paternity test but suggested that they might have been calling a wrong number, , stating, “unfortunately, Clayton Echard has refused to take the prenatal paternity test that I had scheduled at Exam One in Phoenix on Wednesday, August 23rd.” He saw this email but did not respond.

After I went public, my suspicions were confirmed: the publicity compelled Clayton to respond. On September 21st, he shared “the receipts” on his Instagram, saying, in an effort to make it look like he had been cooperating all along. That was not the case.

The High-Profile Influence

It seems clear to me that Judge Mata would not have allowed this case to go on if Clayton had not been a former Bachelor star. If we were both jobless and poverty-stricken, I have no doubt that she would have let me dismiss the case after I miscarried, which is what I asked for. Once I lost the pregnancy, there was no longer a paternity issue to resolve, and no parenting plan was necessary. But because Clayton had a high-profile status, Judge Mata seemed determined to drag this case out.

Adding another bizarre twist to this ordeal, I later learned that Judge Mata’s father attended the evidentiary hearing, . It’s hard to comprehend that my pregnancy loss was reduced to a sideshow spectacle for anyone, let alone a member of the judge’s family.

“Oddly” enough, Judge Mata ruled against me just hours after my attorney, David Gingras, informed her office of our intention to file a Notice for Change of Judge for Cause. It seems too coincidental that such a ruling, almost entirely in Clayton’s favor, would come within hours after we signaled our lack of confidence in her impartiality.

“Justice for Clayton” and Its Influence

Soon after the public learned about the paternity case, the “Justice for Clayton” movement emerged online. Since September, thousands of hours of content from obsessed wannabe YouTube stars and “lawtubers”, have fueled a cult-like following on their monetized channels. These self-proclaimed defenders of Clayton have relentlessly attacked my character, questioning my motives and integrity. Their narrative paints me as a manipulative liar out to trap a celebrity — .

The online attacks have put me through hell. Yesterday, one user even commented on content creator Dave Neal’s Discord, “Let her…see what the world knows about her and thinks about her. Think about the worst most embarrassing horrible shameful thing you’ve ever done — then think about everyone watching it, talking about it, confirming it. Let her stay here and see what we think…and know.”

What “they know”? NONE of them know what happened between me and Clayton but refuse to accept the truth: I did not fake my pregnancy.

The Reality of My Depression

After learning that I was pregnant, I was overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. The pregnancy was unplanned, and Clayton was far from supportive. This uncertainty took a massive toll on my mental health. I took prescribed prenatal vitamins and rested in bed most days, trying to take care of myself. Deep down, I didn’t want to have an abortion, but I also feared a situation where the alleged father would have no involvement once I gave birth. I was hoping for clarity that never came.

My doctor advised that I continue taking my antidepressants, even though they posed a risk during pregnancy, because they were crucial for my mental stability. Essentially, I let nature take its course. Tragically, I eventually had a miscarriage.

Despite my efforts and the difficult circumstances, the judge labeled me “uncreditable [sic]” and “unreliable” for not seeking prenatal care. She said that wasn’t “reasonable”. But according to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly half of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and many women do not seek prenatal care until well into their pregnancies, if at all. Many can’t afford prenatal care. Are these women not entitled to file a paternity case if they know they’re pregnant and want to set up a parenting plan prior to giving birth? Judge Mata’s ruling essentially says they are not.

The Baseless Accusations

Judge Mata’s ruling relied on what she termed a “serial pattern of fabrications” on my part. Let’s be clear: I have never faked a pregnancy, and there is no proof that I did.

My supposed “serial” issue, as she put it, is that I am 34 and have been pregnant multiple times, had two miscarriages, and two abortions. For this, I am being referred to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and sanctioned, facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees.

Judge Mata’s ruling seems to be heavily influenced by Clayton’s very public statements that I had faked pregnancies in the past, which was supported by two exes, both of whom I have restraining orders against (I also have one against Clayton). While they were supposed to be witnesses, neither of them ended up testifying in court.

One of these exes, against whom I have had a California Domestic Violence Restraining Order (CLETS) since 2018, was permitted by Judge Mata to travel across state lines to testify about my 2023 pregnancy with Clayton. This ex, who had no relevant knowledge and only met Clayton the week of the hearing, had previously accompanied me to Planned Parenthood in 2016 to obtain abortion pills, proving the pregnancy was real, although he intended to testify otherwise.

Judge Mata permitting my ex to come to Arizona for the evidentiary hearing in my case with Clayton is a clear violation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). According to VAWA, “No party shall be permitted to seek, to obtain or otherwise enforce a subpoena issued by a court of one state in another state, unless the court of the issuing state has reviewed the request and determined that it is necessary for the purposes of the case.” Judge Mata ignored this legal requirement, unilaterally deciding he wasn’t a threat to me and disregarding the legal protections in place and the trauma he had caused me.

In 2021, I sued the other ex in civil court for abortion coercion. His protective order is up for renewal later this year, and he is undoubtedly trying to discredit me to prevent its renewal. He threatened to “make my life a f***ing living hell,” and has unfortunately made good on that promise. My attorney filed a Notice to the court regarding this civil case to demonstrate that the judge in that case did not find I had fabricated the pregnancy. It had even been confirmed to this ex in a call with the doctor!

Despite the lack of evidence and testimony, Judge Mata clearly accepted Clayton’s allegations, and those of my grudge-holding exes, as true. Her actions suggest a disturbing bias, ignoring clear legal protections and allowing individuals with a history of violence and coercion against me to influence the court.

An Insane Injustice

Judge Mata’s ruling suggests that I should have taken these pregnancy tests, seen the positive results, been told by medical providers that I was pregnant, and understood that they meant nothing. Nothing at all. The absurdity of this notion is beyond comprehension, and it doesn’t even feel like real life. There were no prerequisites for filing my paternity case — no requirement for ultrasounds, sonograms, or traditional prenatal care — yet the judge ruled that my pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage weren’t real.

In addition to photos and videos showing my pregnant belly, I had all the symptoms of pregnancy. I had the testimony of a renowned OB/GYN who delivered 22,000 babies over his career, attesting with 99.9% certainty that I was pregnant.

The Devastating Impact

My attorney is extremely confident that we will reverse the ruling on appeal, and while that might correct the legal wrongs, it can’t erase the stain this ordeal has left on my life. Winning it won’t erase the Google searches, the court documents, or the headlines. Until then, I’ve lost more than just a court case. I’ve lost my peace, my dignity, and my faith in humanity.

The emotional toll is beyond words. I’ve spent countless nights awake, haunted by the weight of this nightmare, plagued by anxiety and fear. The constant public scrutiny, the whispers behind my back, the unrelenting judgment — they all cling to me, casting a long, dark shadow over every aspect of my life. My every interaction is now tainted by this case.

And why?

Because Clayton’s celebrity status as a former Bachelor likely swayed the court to take a keen interest in my case.

Because strangers, who are part of the “Justice for Clayton” cult, have dedicated their lives to tearing mine apart, dissecting every detail of my life, spreading venomous hate, and creating such a frenzy that even the judge’s father attended the hearing, allegedly calling it a “shitshow.”

Because the legal protections meant to safeguard me were blatantly ignored.

All because a judge chose to believe the improbable over the undeniable.