Could my wife's pregnancy cause temporary Gynecomastia??

[dannyhood]

I’m working on a scientific documentary for British TV. The documentary will look at the effects of pregnancy on expectant-fathers worldwide.

I want to explore sympathetic pregnancy, looking at all of it’s possible causes and effects. We’ll be looking at everything from nausea and back ache to physical changes. 

I've spoken with one Dad who grew fatty breasts tissue on his chest during his wife's pregnancy, he panicked and tried everything to lose the extra weight but without success... a few months after his wife gave birth the fatty tissue began to shrink and eventually completely disapeared- I've been consulting with an American Dr. who thinks that this is a surprisingly common phenomena

I understand that Gynecomastia is a sensitive thing to discuss but i'd like to talk with any dads-to-be who have developed symptoms... I think it's important to raise this issue with a wider audience. 

There is no obligation or commitment expected from the fathers, I just want to speak with as many people as I Can.

Ultimately I’ll hope to interview a handful of dads-to-be for inclusion in the documentary.

Contact is in complete confidence: dan.hood@target-tv.com

[refu_gee]

hey danny,

not sure if you have seen this in your great land of GB . I saw a short clip here in the US and A, (borat showed it to me.. ok jokes aside)

I saw a short clip about a couple who had a baby. The mother for some reason could not produce breast milk, so the father, having some form of gynecomastia decided to have the baby suck on his nipples. I'm not sure what the original intent was, but it turned out that his mammary glands actually grew, filled up with milk and became fully functional!! They shoved a brief clip of his chest and his breasts were really female like.

I don't recall where I saw this (nat geo maybe), but it was very interesting to see to see.

[matthew1]

 I hate to be rude but I think it is  all crap. Some dads to be   just get fatter  like the wife does because they eat more junk food and drink  more beers at the bar to get away  from complaining wife.
                    Some your  documentry  money  for something more worthwhile

[refu_gee]

hahaha 

[Grandpa Bambu]

I’m working on a scientific documentary for British TV. The documentary will look at the effects of pregnancy on expectant-fathers worldwide. I've spoken with one Dad who grew fatty breasts tissue on his chest during his wife's pregnancy, he panicked and tried everything to lose the extra weight but without success... a few months after his wife gave birth the fatty tissue began to shrink and eventually completely disapeared- I've been consulting with an American Dr. who thinks that this is a surprisingly common phenomena

C'mon dude, you're kidding right?

For the Docs on board, have you ever heard of this so-called 'common phenomena'?

GB

[skyhawk]

Danny, how can a wife's pregnancy alter the hormonal balance of the Father? 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

It makes no medical sense for a man's breasts to grow on a hormonal basis when his wife is pregnant.  What makes more sense is that he is putting on weight (and naturally some of that weight goes to his chest) in "sympathy" with his wife's gain in weight. Some women let themselves go during pregnancy and put on an enormous amount of weight.  I have seen husbands eat more when their wives eat more.

When the woman loses weight and appetite after pregnancy, the husband may do the same.  Presto -- there go his breasts!

Elliot Jacobs, MD, FACS

[refu_gee]

Could pheromones be the cause? or some other chemicals that we are not fully aware of? Some people are just more sensitive to environmental chemicals than others. Some people take 100mg of acetaminophen for swelling/fever/pain and have psychological reactions to it, while others take 500mg and barely feel the effects of the drug...

I don't think that there is enough evidence to support the possibility that a mans breasts could enlarge during his wife's pregnancy nor are there any studies regarding this correlation.

Perhaps a study could be performed on male OBGYN's, especially ones who do many preg. woman checkups/deliveries. They are constantly around preg. women, so at least the environmental-chemical connection hypothesis could be tested; blood-work could be done to determine if estrogen levels go up. Of course one would also need estrogen levels on that subject before large exposure to preg. women in order to compare the two.. and then other variables as age come to play..

Truly, a study like this would be really complicated to carry out

l8ter

[matthew1]

 I think there  bigger issues to study  then that

[Paa_Paw]

A long time ago when I was in the baby business ( my youngest is now 28) I wondered if my wife had hormones in her perspiration and I was then in effect wearing a large hormone patch every night as we slept.

I really do not think so any longer.

First off, the body would not waste the hormones in a very significant amount in her perspiration. Second, Would they be in a form that I could absorb? And Third, What little I might accidentally absorb would be completely overpowered by my normal level of Testosterone.

This is a subject area for the musings of someone with nothing else to do.. 

I think Dr. Jacobs has the right Idea.

[dannyhood]

I’m working on a scientific documentary for British TV. The documentary will look at the effects of pregnancy on expectant-fathers worldwide. I've spoken with one Dad who grew fatty breasts tissue on his chest during his wife's pregnancy, he panicked and tried everything to lose the extra weight but without success... a few months after his wife gave birth the fatty tissue began to shrink and eventually completely disapeared- I've been consulting with an American Dr. who thinks that this is a surprisingly common phenomena

C'mon dude, you're kidding right?

For the Docs on board, have you ever heard of this so-called 'common phenomena'?

GB

No I'm not kidding - I do not pretend to know the explanation but he was an otherwise very slender man who grew breast tissue during his wife's pregnancy and lost it shortly after... This could be completely coincidental, but I thought it was worthy of investigation (hence the post).

The documentary I'm researching is actually much wider than this, I'm dealing with the dad's entire experience during pregnancy... His psychology and biology during childbirth is pretty overlooked... Sympathetic pregnancy is perhaps slightly silly as a concept, but a nice way to introduce the topic and also potentially a tell tale sign of more important issues.

Men's testosterone level's do drop significantly when their partners are pregnant - there is also a noticable rise in prolactyn levels... This may have more to do with preparing the father psychologically (making him more sociable, less territorial) ... but who knows what other chemical and physical changes may be triggered in some men and for what reasons.

Well I guess it's obviosly not that common ... but if anyone does turn up anything interesting (case studies/research) in the coming month then I'd love to hear about it: daniel.hood@target-tv.com

 

[darrend]

Don't be so silly you numpty!

[Paa_Paw]

As near as I can tell, there is a decided lack of objective evidence to support significant breast growth in men in the course of their wifes pregnancy. Ditto in the issue of men who are able to beastfeed.

The stories about such things are just that, Stories and nothing more.

The problem is that these stories seem to take on a life of their own, they persist for many years and get retold many times.

Men do indeed have the rudimentary buds of milk glands and in some of us there is at least some growth of these  buds but not to a mature state required for a significant degree of lactation.

While I would not go so far as to say that all the stories are outright fabrications, I suspect though that most are exagerations.

[refu_gee]

Science does not lie!!! We just have to learn to interpret its teachings and understand its concepts.

Research like this could prove very useful for many scientific fields ranging from medicine to environmental sciences. If very small levels of certain chemicals in our environment can cause drastic changes in our physiology, then image what large amounts of toxins in the environment will do to us!

For example, there are several studies on a certain plastic baby bottles. The research showed that warm or hot liquids, such as breast milk or formula, dissolve a very, very tiny amount of the plastic into its component molecules. These molecules mimic several different hormones to which infants are extremely sensitive to, thus upon ingestion are absorbed into the blood stream and eventually cause harm to the infant.

It would not be a waste of time to really study a subject such as male breast enlargement due to environmental variables. In fact it should be studied with most importance!
Perhaps we would realize that its time to stop poisoning ourselves and our future generations.

Dannyhood: you have my support on the issue. I don't claim to know the answer either, I'm just guessing upon what I know about chemicals in our surroundings and how they affect us. If you can prove anything scientifically that would be great! Even if the study comes out non conclusive that's a result too.
So quench your curiosity!

Paa_Paw: there are several extreme gyne. conditions in which males actually lactate. This has been recorded in medical literature and I have dug it up before, so I can dig it up again. (I found the book at UC Davis, CA, library and can do so again upon request [after the semester ends of course ])

[matthew1]

QUOTE  ''Paa_Paw: there are several extreme gyne. conditions in which males actually lactate.'' 

         I  do believe that  the  plastic milk bottle to deteriorate and give of toxins. Thats why  we should not heat  up baby milk in the  microwave.

       Daddy's grow  boobs due  to ice cream on the couch with the  new mommy and time at the pub with the  boys