A woman who had had six real pregnancies reacted with temporary rage and asthma when confronted in treatment with the awareness of a seventh spurious

pregnancy. Subsequent sessions brought out early feelings of deprivation as a child and her yearning to get what was denied her. Feeling abandoned by her own and a foster mother through their deaths, she had early turned away from objects and looked to herself for emotional satisfaction. Pregnancy enabled her to overcome recurrent depressions and avoid a schizophrenic level of integration. Spurious pregnancy occurred after she attempted to re-integrate from an acute psychotic state. Pertinent literature is reviewed and other clinical material is presented.