For some people, pregnancy would be a nightmare while for others it would be a real blessing. In both cases, it can be nothing but a fake pregnancy (pseudocyesis or pseudopregnancy) generally caused by psychological aspects.

Although more common to other mammals than humans, pseudocyesis can be diagnosed when clinical and non-clinical symptoms that can be associated with a normal pregnancy appear. Therefore, a woman can gain weight, have morning sickness, tender breasts, and even amenorrhoea – all signs of a normal, natural pregnancy. But nothing but a pseudopregnancy, a pseudocyesis that, however, makes the woman certain that she is pregnant: except for abdominal distention, the woman may show signs of irregular menstrual cycles and even the sensation of fetal movements, even though, obviously, there is no fetus inside.

Unfortunately, there are no known causes of the pseudocyesis and, even though it generally tends to appear in women who were previously declared pregnant, there are no universally accepted causes. However, most of the doctors agree that pseudocyesis tends to appear to women who either want to get pregnant badly or who are terribly afraid of getting pregnant. However, even though pseudocyesis is diagnosed, there should be no reasons of worry since it is not dangerous for the overall woman’s health.