Tag Archive: false pregnancy

What is pseudocyesis, or false pregnancy?

The medical term for a false pregnancy, or phantom pregnancy, is pseudocyesis, from the mid-century English pseudo-meaning ‘false’ and the ancient Greek kuesis meaning ‘conception’. It is a rare condition, estimated in the US, for example, to affect only around six out of 22,000 pregnancies. It is often assumed to be ‘all in the mind’ but the reality of the condition is much more complex.