In my original post, Is Pretending to be Pregnant a Mental Illness, I discussed a high school teenager I have known for three, now going on four years, who has been “pregnant” every year and has had a “miscarriage” every year as well.
Last year was no different, but for some reason I believed she was pregnant, even when her closes friends did not. Still I remained skeptical, especially as the “pregnancy” went along and she didn’t get any bigger and refused to tell her mom about it.
Then summer came and I waited anxiously to see her when school started, knowing she should be close to her due time. Yet, when I saw her last week, she was no bigger than she was almost three months ago.
She told me that she had also “lost” that baby (big surprise), but now she is pregnant again and this time she isn’t making it up… and I believe her!
Why would I believe she is pregnant this time when she has lied about being pregnant four previous times?
Well this time she told me she told her mom, something she never did in her previous “pregnancies” even when I offered to talk to her mom with her.
Also, I know she has wanted to get pregnant for the past four years and so it was bound to eventually happen for real. I knew she was having unprotected sex with different guys.
And then today she showed me a picture of her getting a sonogram… a real picture this time and so yes, the girl who pretended to be pregnant for four years is finally pregnant.
It’s so sad because at 18 she is lost, she’s barely passing school, is extremely immature, admitted that her baby’s father is no good, that she doesn’t like him and her family doesn’t either, but yet they are bringing a child into this world.
There is no way she is ready to be a mother and yet, if everything goes right, she will be soon enough.
I’m concerned because this is a young lady with obvious mental issues and if she doesn’t get the help she needs she will raise a child who will potential have further issues because of being raised by an ill-prepared mother.
On top of everything, I really think this girl wanted to get pregnant to fulfill something missing in her life, maybe attention, unconditional love, purpose, who knows, and if having this baby doesn’t meet her conscious or unconscious expectations then where will that leave her and the child?
I see many mothers who had children for the wrong reasons (to keep a man, to fulfill a void, to prove that they can accomplish something, etc.) abandon their children physically, mentally or both when those expectations weren’t met.
Many of those parents end up abusing their kids, resenting them or being negligent in the way they raise their kids.
I’m not saying that this is definitely the case with this young lady, who knows? For a very few, having a baby serves as a catalyst to get them to step up and change their lives for the better so that they can be the best parent they can be for their child.
Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. Many impoverished, poorly educated, single, teenage moms end up dropping out of school and remaining in poverty.
The psychological issues that made this young girl persistently pursue to be pregnant for years will probably remain after she gives birth so I won’t be surprised if she isn’t pregnant or “pregnant” again and again even after she gives birth for real.
Licensed Mental Health Counselor 
I was wondering if you had an update to this story? I know someone who I believe to be faking pregnancies. According to her she has has 10 miscarriages but her story just doesn’t add up. She’s an adult rather than a teen but it still has me interested in the subject.
Thanks for being interested in a follow up. Unfortunately the main young lady in the story that actually got pregnant dropped out of school earlier this year when she was probably 3 months or so pregnant, which is very common. Since then, through students I know who are friends with her I’ve learned that she very recently had a girl. I was just watching some reality crime show where a woman kept pretending to be pregnant and having miscarriages and then she came up with a plan to kill someone she knew was pregnant and almost due, and take the unborn baby from her. She ended up being charged with kidnapping and attempted murder because her friend was lucky enough to get away. I think issues like this are way more common than most people think. I’ve known enough young girls who have pretended to be pregnant for a few days to a few weeks at most, but the ones who go on for months are the ones that I am really concerned about.
I am currently dealing with a daughter in law who pretended to be pregnant for an entire pregnancy and continued saying she was pregnant even after the ultrasound showed her uterus was empty. She’s 30 and married and none of us can figure why she would do this. I wish I had called her out early in this “pregnancy” when I had my doubts but it just seemed unfathomable that she wasn’t pregnant as she kept it up. My advice, if you question the validity of a pregnancy, follow thru in finding the truth and don’t worry about offending. I worry how far she would have gone if allowed.
Hello, I have a more extreme story of a young adult that continues not only a whole term of fake pregnancy, but fake birth and the existence of the child as well that is going on for years. Please e-mail me to shed some light on this and perhaps write a more psychologically advanced blog to help others in my struggle as how lies can be so influential due to how consistent the lies are using empathetic and polite people to be their form of witness.
Please e-mail me back.