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Psychosomatic Medicine, 1946, Vol. VIII, No. 3, pp. 176–179.
The authors report three non-pregnant patients who were convinced they were pregnant; these women had morning nausea and vomiting, amenorrhea, enlargement and tingling of the breasts, milk secretion, increase in weight, areolar pigmentation, enlargement of the abdomen and even sensations of 'life'. Quantitative urinary output of gonadotropins and estrogens was far above the normal, but not enough to result in a positive Friedman test, in all three women. In the absence of pregnancy or pituitary anomaly the authors conclude that this increased hormonal output must be attributed to the influence of the psyche on the endocrine system. In each case, when the patient was told that she definitely was not pregnant, prompt recession of the physical signs took place and the hormonal titers returned to normal. Two of the three women had strong conscious desires for a child.