PollenTree

So you think you're pregnant?

 If you have suffered symptoms of pregnancy but have watched your family and friends frown in disbelief when you have tried to persuade them that you are pregnant despite a negative pregnancy test, rest assured you are not going mad. A number of women find that they have symptoms of pregnancy whilst not actually being pregnant and some men have reported having sympathetic signs of pregnancy. You are in good company as the most famous historical figure to be diagnosed with this condition was Mary Tudor Queen of England.

These ghost or phantom pregnancies are a medically recognised condition known as Pseudocyesis. The causes are unknown and medical experts differ in their views about possible causes. Some argue that it is triggered by a strong desire to become a mother and commonly affects women who have suffered from infertility, miscarriages or severe relationship difficulties. Others argue that it is the result of strong repressed emotions and even women with an intense fear of becoming pregnant can develop Pseudocyesis.

Signs of pregnancy may include enlarged abdomen, morning sickness, swollen or tender breasts (which in some cases even produce milk), menstrual periods stopping and weight gain. A woman's body will mimic the signs of pregnancy and urine tests might even show up as positive when in fact the woman is not pregnant.

The condition is most common in animals for example dogs where it is linked to hormonal imbalance. In humans however it appears to be linked to emotional stress. There is no widely accepted treatment for the condition other than treating some of the symptoms such as menstrual periods which have stopped. Most doctors look for some underlying psychological problem and seek to treat this instead through psychotherapy to make the patient realise and accept that they are not pregnant. This is a controversial approach as it suggests that what the person is going through is not real. However the medical diagnosis recognises that the symptoms are real but attempts to be explain them away by looking at the reasons for the changes in the body, for example a swollen abdomen might be due to a build up of wind, fat, faeces or urine!

For women trying to conceive this condition is a harrowing one as they may go through symptoms of loss and bereavement when discovering that there is no foetus at the end of the pregnancy or realising that the symptoms disappear after only a few weeks or months.