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Pseudocyesis. False Pregnancy. Lauren Habeck , Paige Neyers , Caitlin Reineke, Ellie Swanson. Examples in Media. Private Practice Woman with Pseudocyesis steals doctors baby CSI Daughter with Pseudocyesis (Rachel Evan Wood) Law and Order: SVU Homeless woman with Pseudocyesis.
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Pseudocyesis False Pregnancy Lauren Habeck, Paige Neyers, Caitlin Reineke, Ellie Swanson
Examples in Media • Private Practice • Woman with Pseudocyesis steals doctors baby • CSI • Daughter with Pseudocyesis (Rachel Evan Wood) • Law and Order: SVU • Homeless woman with Pseudocyesis
What is Pseudocyesis? • belief that you are expecting a baby when you are not really carrying a child • 1 to 6 of 22,000 births • Psychiatric condition • Victims of Incest • 20-44 Age Range
Symptoms • Morning Sickness • Backache • Weight Gain • Missed Periods • Enlarged Abdomen • Enlarged Breasts • Dizziness • Quickening • Frequent Urination
Causes • Emotional Conflict • Impending Menopause • Wish Fulfillment • Infertility • Desire to get Married • Depression • Repeat Miscarriages • Chemical changes in Nervous System • Intense desire/fear of pregnancy • Changes in Endocrine System
Treatment • Therapy • Medication • To begin period again • Break the News Slowly Overtime • Use of Ultrasound and other tests
Cultural Aspect • 1 out of 160 woman seeking fertility treatment in Africa have Pseudocyesis • More common with: • Higher poverty levels • Relationship Instability • Reoccurring Abuse
Stealing Children • Unusual • Women who show mental disturbance • Abduct a baby to satisfy own need/want • When charged, women get off with insanity plea • Kansas in 2007: Woman kills expecting mother, cuts baby out • Similar to ‘Private Practice’ episode
Queen Mary I of England • Daughter of King Henry VIII • Experienced 2 cases of Pseudocyesis • Never had any children • Maybe died of stomach cancer
Watch Out Boys! • Sympathetic Pregnancy • Men begin to show signs of pregnancy (Just like Pseudocyesis) • Usually when a partner is pregnant
What do you think? • Should doctors be allowed to perform procedures on these women? • If a woman is charged with stealing a child, should they be able to plea insanity? • Should these women be put in mental institutions/psych wards? • Why isn’t Pseudocyesis a more talked about illness? Or should it be?