The delights and difficulties experienced during pregnancy are traditionally a women's exclusive. There is, however, a small portion of the male population that may be prone to developing what experts call Couvade Syndrome.
The syndrome, which is known in some countries as Sympathetic Pregnancy or Phantom Pregnancy, affects men who live with a woman in gestation. It is not exactly a disease, but the presentation of a set of symptoms by the pregnant woman's partner.
Some research indicates that about 54% of future dads will develop some symptom directly related to pregnancy. The incidence of symptoms is more frequently observed in first-time parents who are positively involved with expecting the baby.
Daddy, slightly pregnant?
The man who develops this syndrome may have morning nausea, specific food cravings, significant weight gain, indigestion, previously non-existent sleep disorders, changes in the gastrointestinal system, backache, headache and, in extreme cases, even even hormonal changes. Some men, exceptionally, even experience belly growth similar to what occurred with the pregnant woman.
This curious state has been described by many researchers since the 1970s. Psychologically, studies show that the symptoms are more frequent in couples who are expecting the baby with great anxiety, either because they had a previous abortion or simply because the woman has some difficulty getting pregnant. It also usually happens in cases of an unexpected pregnancy, where emotional sensations are experienced very quickly and intensely.
In the biological context, some evidence points to the remote possibility that the woman, through breathing, some hormonal mediators that end up being intercepted by her partner. Research on mammals and insects has proven that this type of hormonal transmission is real and happens quite often. By injecting a certain substance into the female, the male began to show symptoms similar to hers without having closer contact than just the division of the same physical space. However, these studies are inconclusive with respect to humans.
In some medical reports, men who were unaware of their partner's condition as pregnant described strange symptoms, and sometimes even before the woman herself became aware of gestational symptoms.
What science has already proven is too little to explain the syndrome: changes in men's hormone levels during a woman's pregnancy that predispose her to paternity. These changes, however, have nothing to do with the syndrome, which makes men much more comparable to women during pregnancy.
WE'RE PREGNANT!! | Experiencing COUVADE SYNDROME! (April 2024)
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