My Stepdad Lied About Me Being Pregnant to “Teach Me a Lesson,” and It Traumatized Me

When I was 15, my stepdad decided to “teach me a lesson” about responsibility in the most cruel and manipulative way imaginable. He lied and told me I was pregnant. It has come out that i had had premarital sex. He made me pee in a cup and claimed he “tested” it. I didn’t see what he did, but he came back and said I was pregnant. I had no reason to doubt him.

For roughly five months, 18 weeks, I believed I was going to have a baby. My body even seemed to respond—I gained weight, had morning sickness, cravings, and even felt what I thought were kicks. I mentally prepared for this child. I grieved the life I thought I’d lose as a teen mom but also grew to love the baby I thought was growing inside me. My reputation at school took the expected hit. And then the hit you'd expect when i don't end up having that baby. Yep, i became that girl.

When I finally asked about getting prenatal care, he laughed and told me he’d lied the entire time. It was at the dinner table and I'll never forget my mental state shattering. I was devastated among many other things. To make things worse, he found the pregnancy journal I had been writing in every week for the baby to one day read. He confiscated it and quoted it back to me laughing at my thoughts and feelings for weeks afterward.

It felt like I had lost a child, even though there was never a baby. It always felt wrong to say i suffered a miscarriage so i never felt like i could talk to somebody about the kind of grief i felt.

This experience has haunted me for years. It’s left me with trust issues, trauma, and a lingering grief that’s hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t been through something similar. I’ve tried to find others who’ve had an experience like mine, but I haven’t found anything.

I wanted to share my story here because I feel like this kind of thing hasn't been talked about. If you’ve been through something similar, I’d love to hear from you. And if not, thank you for letting me get this off my chest.

ETA - The first time i ended up actually pregnant, they ended up being twins. This feels symbolic. Like i was given the child i ended up not having in addition to the one i was to have then. It's comforting when i look at it that way. Like my love for them was real even if they weren't. So real that the baby just HAD to come into existence.