Paul Servat told the Toronto Sun that his girlfriend, 37-year-old Barbara Bienvenue, told him she was pregnant with quintuplets — and he believed her. In fact, he said her belly grew like she was pregnant, she had morning sickness and she had even started lactating.
A local newspaper in Quebec, Le Canada Français, even ran a story on the couple’s happy news that they were expecting quadruplets (she later told him she was expecting five, instead of four), resulting in donations pouring in to the couple in the form of clothes, money and supplies. The couple had even picked out names (Alexander, Sebastian, Charles and Rosalie) and had set up the nursery.
They even had a C-section scheduled on Feb. 22 at a Montreal hospital.
One of Bienvenue's friends told ABC News that she “never doubted” her friend's pregnancy, saying she “walked like she was pregnant and seemed to have contractions.”
On the day the babies were to be delivered, the couple went to the hospital and doctors pulled Servat aside to deliver the shocking news — not only was she not currently pregnant, but she had never been pregnant. Bienvenue is at the hospital undergoing psychiatric treatment.
“I lost everything, it was my whole life,” he told the Toronto Sun.
What is a phantom pregnancy?
With a phantom pregnancy, your brain actually convinces your body you are pregnant, even causing stomach distention, milk secretion and even elevated pregnancy hormones. Dr. Kimberly Gecsi told ABC News she has only seen four or five of this type of rare condition in the last 10 years.
“Most people are convinced they're like 38 weeks along and they come in thinking they're in labor — heavy breathing, the whole nine yards, with all their things,” she said. "You're kind of relieved that it's not the alternative, that she was pregnant and the baby died. You feel bad. In her mind, it's a loss… it's sad."
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