False pregnancy False pregnancy False pregnancy, also known as phantom, hysterical pregnancy, pregnancy scares or pseudocyesis, is the appearance of clinical or subclinical signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy when the person is not actually pregnant. False pregnancy may sometimes be purely psychological. It is generally believed that false pregnancy is caused by changes in the endocrine system of the body, leading to the secretion of hormones that cause physical changes similar to those during pregnancy. Some men experience the same illnesses as a woman would experience while pregnant when their partner is pregnant (see Couvade syndrome), possibly caused by pheromones that
Male pregnancy carried the fetus for four months; however, Jacobson did not publish his claims in a scientific journal, and was subsequently convicted on several unrelated counts of fraud for ethical misconduct. Unlike an ectopic pregnancy which places both the fetus and host in danger, uterus transplantation into a male, if successful, would provide protection to both the fetus and host and remove much of the danger to both. According to Karine Chung, director of the fertility preservation program at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, transplanting a uterus into a human male would not be much different from