Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com.
Josh Clark
Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. I am a staff writer here at HowStuffWorks.com. And with me is trusty editor, Candace Gibson. Candace, is it editor or editrix?
Candace Gibson
I'm going to go with editrix just because it sounds authoritative and I'm feeling pretty authoritative today because I've got a really weird question for you, and I already know the answer. Can I, assuming I'm a man, feel pregnant when my wife is?
Josh Clark
They answer is a resounding yes, at least from anecdotal evidence. We're talking about Couvade Syndrome, first described by Hippocrates, I believe in 300 BC, correct?
Candace Gibson
That's right. And if you don't feel like whipping out your French, you could also call it false pregnancy or sympathetic pregnancy. And essentially, what happens is a man develops pseudocyesis, which is a swollen belly, this phantom belly, as if he's actually carrying a child. And now I've heard about men succumbing to their pregnant wife's cravings and them also wanting chocolate shakes and French fries at three in the morning.
Josh Clark
Well who doesn't?
Candace Gibson
Well naturally, I do every day. But when you get that phantom belly, I think you're going a step too far. You're really stealing your wife's thunder, don't you think?
Josh Clark
Yeah, and it's one of the theories behind Couvade syndrome is that the man has developed a rivalry with this wife. He wants in on the attention, the action, just the glamour of being pregnant.
Candace Gibson
And it's worth mentioning, too, no men choose to develop phantom pregnancy, any more than they choose to develop man breasts. This is a psychosomatic condition. And it's brought on by this emotional attachment or maybe confusion with all these changes that are happening. And it's also very important to mention, too, that this isn't something exclusive to men. It happens to women who maybe have had a miscarriage in the past or they've lost a child and they have this extreme emotional need to actually bear a child again. And there's actually a pretty famous case of this. Have you heard of Bloody Mary?
Josh Clark
I have, actually, the woman, where if you stand in the mirror and you say her name how many times, fast?
Candace Gibson
I'm not going to tell you because you're going to try to do it and I don't want her loose on HowStuffWorks.