Pregnancy seems like an experience with a wild range of ups and downs. For one, there's dozens of strict rules you have to follow to ensure your baby grows healthy - and pretty much everything you're denied is fun, too. There's back pain, general lack of movement, having to be dependent on others later on in the pregnancy - and then the birth itself isn't exactly the most pleasant experience.
There are a lot of upsides to it too, even putting aside the bundle of joy you get at the end of it, but I don't think there are many women out there who would want it to last any longer than nine months if they had a say in it.
Going through it for a full year would be pretty bad. Two years? Even worse. But four years? That would be the worst, right?
Well, according to one American woman, that's exactly what she's been through. Zona appeared on a recent episode of Dr. Phil to speak about her 'pregnancy,' which she claims has been ongoing for the past 3 years and 7 months. She has taken countless pregnancy tests and seen various doctors over the years, and only received negative results, but that hasn't stopped her from believing in her "cryptic pregnancy".
The medical definition of cryptic pregnancy refers to "the absence of awareness by a woman that she is pregnant until she delivers her baby," but the woman who appeared on Dr. Phil to talk about their lengthy 'pregnancies' have a new take on it. She claims that pregnancies can reach up to seven years, and her reasoning behind it not being picked up on any ultrasounds is because the baby is in her second, "back uterus".
Earlier this year, she was told by a doctor that she has bladder cancer, but she doesn't believe this diagnosis. Zona also revealed that she has had her "tubes tied" so she wouldn't have children anymore, but is still certain it's true:
"Approximately three years and seven months. At age 20 I had my tubes tied so I would not have children anymore.
"I actually got pregnant at 40, I was extremely shocked, I am still in shock. My belly has continued to grow for the three and a half years but it does grow at super low rates. My breasts are tender, my mood swings are super bad, I can be crying one minute, happy the next.
"When I go to a doctor I take a pregnancy test, of course it does not show up either on blood or urine. They have also given me ultrasounds, they tell me all are negative. The doctors are wrong, I don't care what medical degree they have I am 1,000% certain that I am pregnant."
In addition to this, Dr. Phil spoke to a couple of other women who have similar phantom pregnancies, though they are far less steadfast in their opinion than Zona.
"The movement in my stomach is what I am saying is real, know 1,000% I am giving birth to multiples," she said. "I think I'm carrying six babies."
Her daughter apparently thinks that she is just doing all of this for attention, and the rest of her family don't feel much different. Zona added:
"My family does not believe I am pregnant, it has torn my family apart. This is the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life, it's real and it's misery.
"I am sick and tired of being pregnant, I just want them out, I am done with this - I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done with pregnancy. I don't want it anymore."
Neither of the women were satisfied with the results not being what they believed, but Zona was espeically certain that the tests weren't conclusive, and that the obstetrician-gynecologist's examination simply wasn't thorough enough.
At the end of the day, it seems like all the evidence in the world isn't enough for either of them to consider the fact that they might not be pregnant - and with that in mind, they'll probably 'pregnant' for years longer.
