Against a background of the concept of pseudocyesis, a psychoanalytically oriented study is presented of the responses of a group of one hundred fifty-two women who were sterilized by different surgical procedures and for various reasons. The women were divided into three groups, according to the relative ease of their acceptance of the resulting sterility. An interesting finding was the appearance of some symptoms typical of pseudocyesis in all three groups. This was viewed as a defensive restitution, analogous to phantom limb pain, against the feeling of loss caused by the surgical removal. The psychological reaction to the sterilization was understood as a vector of the complicated interaction of unconscious conflicts about feminine identity, feminine role, reproduction, body image, separation, and dependency needs.