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The Pregnant Man?

Couvade Syndrome in Expectant Dads

By Laura Paul

Lance Hardcastle and his wife, Kelli, of Santa Fe, Texas, are expecting their seventh son. While Kelli is the one who is pregnant, Hardcastle gains weight right along with her.

It's not unusual for men to gain weight, experience headaches and insomnia during their partners' pregnancies. "A lot of that is attributed to the fact we go and eat and she eats to what the baby craves – whether he wants Mexican food or steak and lobster," Lance Hardcastle says. "She typically does not finish it and I end up eating it."

Experts say expectant fathers with full-blown Couvade syndrome, a phenomenon where men experience physical symptoms and pains associated with the pregnancy, show symptoms that go beyond simply gaining a few pounds from eating leftovers. The word is derived from the French word "couver" or "to hatch."

Although it's hard to track how many men experience sympathy symptoms because most men don't go to the doctor even for annual checkups, Armin Brott of Oakland, Calif., a father of three daughters and author of The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-to-Be (Abbeville Press, 2001), says experts believe 25 to 75 percent of men experience some signs. "It is definitely a common thing, but it's hard to track," he says.

Some of Hardcastle's friends became so emotional during their wives' pregnancies that they exhibited overt sympathy symptoms. "Some of them can't deal with the fact that their wife is hurting or they get nauseated just because of the pain she is going through and all of the excitement of it," he says.

Want to see more?

• Coping With Morning Sickness: How to Help Your Partner
• Going the Full Nine: How to be a Model Husband From the First Day of Pregnancy to the Last
• Putting Yourself in Her Shoes: Sympathy-Building Exercises for the Dad-to-be
• Talk about it!

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