When Jamie Aitken, 32, met up for a date, he had no idea where it would turn into a nine-month nightmare. He tells his story in his own words:
It was July 2019, and I’d recently matched with a woman called Jaclyn McGowan on Tinder
Tell me about yourself. What do you do for work? I asked.
I work for a charity, she replied.
As we continued to message, it struck me how kind she was. Not only did she work for a reputable charity, she also flew to Vietnam every year to volunteer at a children’s orphanage.
I told her I was going to my cousin’s wedding in a nearby town that weekend.
I’m there too for work. Let’s meet up, she suggested.
So after a fun day of celebrating, I met Jaclyn in a bar around the corner. After a drink, we headed back to her hotel room and I ended up staying the night.
The next morning, we hung out before I headed back to where my family was staying.
Jaclyn messaged a few days later asking if I wanted to meet again. Deciding she wasn’t the right one for me, I gently let her down.
She asked me a second time a few days later, but I again said no.
Then, three weeks later, Jaclyn sent me a picture of two pregnancy tests.
Don’t freak out. This is my problem not yours and I will handle it, she wrote.
I was worried and wanted to help. I’ll be there to support you, I told her.
After a few weeks of back and forth, we agreed on a 50/50 arrangement once the baby arrived.
I wanted to meet her in person to discuss things, but every time I suggested this she refused, so I respected her choice.
“I hope it works out OK,” my mum, Wendy, said when I broke the news.
When Jaclyn sent me her first scan, I got excited at the thought of being a dad.
Still refusing to meet me in person, despite us living just under 10km away from each other, Jaclyn and I only communicated through messaging.
But soon her attitude changed. She’d block and unblock me on social media for no reason.
You’re a bad person, she said once out of nowhere.
A few weeks later, Mum rang to say Jaclyn had started messaging her on Facebook.
“She’s saying you’re not going to be involved, is this true?” she asked.
“No, I want to be involved,” I insisted.
Tracking down my brother, Corrie, Jaclyn also started messaging him.
She continued blocking and unblocking me – and I got most of the baby updates from my family. She’d send them scans and pictures of her growing bump.
I felt helpless. I wanted to be involved but she was refusing to speak to me.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be mean, it’s the hormones, she’d say when she unblocked me.
Another time, she unblocked me to say we were having a boy.
I’m going to call him Noah. He’ll have blond hair and blue eyes like you, she typed.
“I think she’s making this all up,” my mate Connor said one day.
“I’ve got to be there for her and the baby,” I insisted.
When Jaclyn was eight months pregnant, she sent a bump picture to Mum. But days later Jaclyn’s Facebook page disappeared. Searching online, there was no trace of her.
A few weeks later, Corrie’s girlfriend, Katie, spotted Jaclyn in the hair salon. But she ran out before Katie had a chance to speak.
She then got in touch with Corrie, turning up at his workplace, before disappearing again.
“She looked very pregnant,” he said.
Around the nine-month mark, Mum found that Jaclyn had a new Facebook account. In the profile picture, she was holding a newborn.
My blood went cold.
Is that Noah? I wondered, desperate to meet my boy.
Remembering a mutual mate used to work with Jaclyn, I rang her and explained the situation.
“What are you talking about? She’s never been pregnant. Her sister just had a baby,” she said.
I felt sick. Had she been lying to me?
Mum and my dad, Jim, had even flown over to meet the baby.
“We need to go to the police,” Dad said.
My parents took me to the police and officers went to her house, where she confessed to lying about the whole thing.
She’d bought a prosthetic bump to wear for photos, even putting it on when she went to see my brother.
And the scans that she’d sent were her sister’s – meaning the same surname was on them.
I’d been completely fooled – and so had my family.
It turns out, she didn’t work for a charity either.
In October 2020, police charged Jaclyn McGowan, 36. Appearing at Perth Sheriff Court, she pleaded guilty to causing fear and alarm by stalking and was sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
I was relieved she didn’t end up in jail, but it doesn’t change what she did. I feel so betrayed.
In court, McGowan claimed she’d been pregnant, but miscarried a week later. She then decided to keep up the pretence. She admitted she’d carried out the lie as she was hurt when I didn’t want to see her again. But her revenge was cruel.
For ages, I found it hard to trust people, and I know that’s an issue I’ll always battle with. I’ve now got an amazing girlfriend who I met through mutual friends. I’m just moving on with my life and putting it all behind me.
This story originally appeared in that’s life! magazine and has been republished here with permission