I was in a relationship with a man and we were talking about getting married soon. He persuaded me to have sex without protection. He said to be very much in love and that having a child with me would complete his dream of a family. We had extensively talked about goals and values. I had explained to him repeatedly that I would only have a child in a committed relationship and that I would never have children to raise them by myself. When I got pregnant, I discussed with him abortion as an option. I wanted to reconfirm where we were on that subject. He said he was excited we were having a baby and rejected the idea of an abortion. He said he was going to work very hard so that I could stay home with the baby for the first two years. He unexpectedly had to travel for business during my third trimester but he was back for the birth of our child and signed a declaration of paternity at the hospital. He left for business again two weeks later and I never saw him again. Soon he was avoiding my calls and behaving strangely. Several months went by before he shocked me on the phone: he was “too selfish to be a parent” and he did “not want to be in a permanent relationship with anyone.” He was however involved in a new relationship. I urged him to come home and go to counseling. He declined. This was two years ago and he has never paid child support, but that is not the subject of my inquiry.

What I want to know is the name of the crime (if any) that he committed against me by misrepresenting his character and his values and goals in the relationship, and by convincing me to mother a child that he would abandon after birth -- by making me a single parent against my will. I feel defrauded, injured, and assaulted in my reproductive freedom. Obviously, his conduct has affected me personally, socially, financially, and professionally. Is what he did a crime of fraud, personal injury, a reproductive-freedom assault, wrongful life/wrongful birth, family abandonment, or what? Can this be prosecuted on one or more grounds? In which court? What is the penalty for this crime? I’m in California.