Laura Owens admitted her pregnancy claim was a fraud after a paternity test and family court ruling unraveled her story.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
August 29, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Laura Owens pleaded guilty to four felonies after admitting she fabricated pregnancy claims involving The Bachelor star Clayton Echard and another man.
- Owens claimed Echard had gotten her pregnant with twins, but a paternity test found little to no fetal DNA, and a judge ruled that she knowingly presented a false claim without authentic medical evidence.
- Prosecutors will dismiss 10 remaining charges under the plea deal, while Owens could receive probation or up to 12-and-a-half years in prison on the most serious fraud count.
Laura Owens spent more than a year insisting The Bachelor star Clayton Echard had gotten her pregnant with twins. Now she has admitted the entire saga was built on fraud. Owens pleaded guilty on Friday, August 28, to four felonies stemming from fabricated pregnancy claims involving Echard and another man, avoiding a criminal trial that had been scheduled for October.
According to KTAR, Owens, 36, entered the plea during a settlement conference in Maricopa County Superior Court. She admitted to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury, and one count of taking another person’s identity. Prosecutors will dismiss the remaining 10 charges under the agreement.
Three counts call for probation, but the most serious fraud charge carries no sentencing deal, leaving the judge free to impose anything from probation to 12-and-a-half years in prison.
The case began in 2023, when Owens claimed a brief encounter with Echard had left her pregnant with twins. She filed a paternity lawsuit and pursued child support, setting off a public legal battle with the former reality-TV lead.
Echard, who starred on Season 26 of ABC’s The Bachelor, denied having sexual intercourse with Owens and paid $725 to schedule a paternity test. When the result came back showing “little to no fetal DNA present,” he posted an Instagram video celebrating the news. “Five months of torture can finally be put to rest,” he said.
But it wasn’t over. Owens continued pressing her case until the evidence—and her own story—fell apart in family court. Judge Julie Ann Mata found in June 2024 that Owens had “knowingly presented a false claim” and violated an order requiring her to turn over evidence.
The judge noted that Owens had no authentic ultrasound, sonogram, or physical examination supporting the alleged pregnancy. At worst, Mata wrote, the lawsuit was “fraudulent and made to incite communication, a relationship, or both” with Echard.
Echard was granted a petition of non-paternity and awarded attorney’s fees, but the ruling delivered something even bigger: a referral to criminal investigators.
Prosecutors later accused Owens of altering an ultrasound image, fabricating a pregnancy video, and committing perjury during the paternity proceedings.
The investigation also pulled in an earlier case involving Gregory Gillespie, a man Owens briefly dated in 2021. Gillespie and Echard shared the same family-law attorney, Gregg Woodnick, helping expose what the court described as a pattern of similar conduct.
