A man who thought his girlfriend was pregnant and he was going to be a first-time father was stunned when they got to the hospital.
“She let me choose the names,” Servat told the QMI Agency, a news company, as he stood among donated gifts. “I lost everything, it was my whole life.”
Bienvenue surprised Servat with the news that she was expecting months before the due date. Later, she said that she was going to have twins, then triplets, then quadruplets. After that, she said she’s expecting five babies.
“We were so happy,” Servat said. “Even my parents, they were so looking forward to having grandchildren.”
Servat took Bienvenue to the hospital and staff told him there was no record of her pregnancy before a nurse took him aside and showed him the blood test results.
“She told me she was not pregnant,” he said, referring to what the nurse told him.
“The doctors told me it was a phantom pregnancy,” said Servat.
He said that Bienvenue was so convinced she was pregnant that her belly got bigger and even had morning sickness.
The two met online last summer, and they amassed a significant amount of pregnancy-related gifts.
“I'll return all these things to people who sent them or give them (away),” Servat said.
“I’m a good person and I have nothing to do with these lies.”
According to QMI Agency, Bienvenue’s family and close friends weren’t surprised with the strange incident.
Bienvenue had faked leukemia and other illnesses in the past.
“She cut ties with us in recent months,” said the relative. “She didn’t want us to know about her game.”
A phantom pregnancy, or false pregnancy, is the belief “that you are expecting a baby when you are not really carrying a child,” WebMD says.Phantom Pregnancy?
Pseudocyesis is the scientific term for a false pregnancy, and it is characterized by the typical weight gain, morning sickness, back aches, and irritability---which are signs of pregnancy.The cause of pseudocyesis isn’t exactly clear.
Some issues might be the loss of a child, infertility, a mental breakdown, or a miscarriage. Some women who are about to enter menopause also experience it.
“Out of all of the causes listed above, the most common documented cause is simple – a woman wants to get pregnant so badly that she mentally convinces herself that she is pregnant. There are many reasons why she is not getting pregnant including infertility or simply coming up to menopause,” says the website.
WebMD offered more details of symptoms, including the interruption of the menstrual period, swollen belly, feeling of fetal movements, vomiting and nausea, and weight gain.
The symptoms can last for as long as nine months, it says. A small percentage even head to the hospital with what they believe are labor pains.
“When a woman believes she is pregnant, especially for a period of several months, it can be very upsetting for her to learn that she is not. Doctors need to gently break the news, and provide psychological support, including therapy, to help the patient with pseudocyesis recover from her disappointment,” says the site.
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