Dear Mr. Dad: My wife is about four months pregnant and I’m really excited about becoming a new dad. The problem is that I’ve recently put on some weight (which is really weird, since I weigh exactly what I did in high school). I’ve also been having nosebleeds and I’m vomiting a lot (which is also weird, since I almost never do either one). I’m too embarrassed to talk to my wife about this and I’m certainly not going to ask my doctor. But I thought you might be able to help me figure out what’s going on. Got any ideas about why this is happening?
A: As bizarre as it seems, what you’re describing is actually relatively common among expectant fathers. Men’s psychological experience of pregnancy is just as profound as women’s. But even though men aren’t physically pregnant, they still can—as you’ve discovered—experience some physical symptoms. And we’re not talking about just a few guys. Somewhere between 25 and 90 percent of expectant fathers have a “sympathetic” pregnancy, also called couvade syndrome, from the French “to hatch.”
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