And this is how they experienced all the delights of future motherhood.
“I didn’t serve – not a woman, I didn’t give birth – not a man,” they joke on the Internet.
Our heroes, of course, were not going to give birth. But for a whole month they risked becoming pregnant.
With their experiment, Steve Hanson, Johnny Biggins and Jason Bramley decided to pay tribute to mothers and wives. But the seemingly humorous test almost ended in a nervous breakdown for them.
The men decided to wear a 15 kg suit with a false belly and chest. It was allowed to take it off only once a day, but only to wash. So, in just one day, the participants in the experiment were immediately at the 9th month of pregnancy. All their feelings “future mothers” had to write down in a diary.
For Jason, this task was especially difficult. Coincidentally, at the time of the experiment, the wife and their 10-month-old baby left home. After the first weekend, the lonely and pregnant husband almost fell into depression.
The rest of the “pregnancy” was given a little easier. Nearby were wives and children who supported the men in every possible way. Although the spouses, I must say, were slightly embarrassed when their husbands appeared in public with a big belly and chest.
Of course, these guys could not experience the full range of sensations of a pregnant woman. Their hormones didn’t rage and their ankles didn’t swell. However, having dragged 15 kilograms on themselves for a month, the men, at least a little, understood what their mothers and wives went through.
This is what the “pregnant fathers” wrote in their diary during the experiment.
Johnny, putting on a suit for the first time: “My life will never be the same. It’s not even about the number of kilograms, but how they are distributed: right on the bladder and in the groin. “
Steve after the first sleep with a stomach: “I didn’t sleep a wink. I couldn’t lie down … What a terrible night! “
Jason in the morning: “I woke up and I feel like I played a rugby match the day before: my back and shoulders are very sore.”
Johnny after 20 days without sleep: “You know, at night I miss most of all … no, not about what you were thinking. I miss a sound sleep. Every day I wake up feeling physically painful due to lack of sleep. They say 80 percent of pregnant women suffer from insomnia. Well, I’m in good company. “
Jason, Trying to Work: “I wonder why pregnant women don’t use a wheelchair. In the office I have a chair on wheels – this is real happiness. “
Steve, looking after his son: “It’s very brave for a 12 year old guy to go out with a ‘pregnant father’. I am very proud of him. “
Pregnant Johnny on office work: “It was very strange to go back to work. Calls to clients, Skype conferences (I decided to turn off the camera today), meetings, communication with investors. Doing the usual day to day, today I felt anything but normal. “
Steve in the office: “I’m sitting at my desk. He rode back in the chair a meter, then rolled over to the table again – and bam! Forgetting about his stomach, he hit it hard on the table. “
For maximum purity of the experiment, the pregnant suits were made in such a way that the weight in the abdomen simulated the blows and movement of the fetus.
“My lower back is like an old board now and my stomach hurts like Mike Tyson used it as a punching bag,” complains Jason.
In addition to back pain, insomnia and constant fatigue, the guys had to face the ridicule of passers-by.
“I’ve never caught such gazes from people on public transport, at least when I was sober,” says Steve.
And here are some offensive words they wrote to pregnant fathers on the Internet:
“Their wives need to divorce these weaklings immediately.” “A man has a role in the family during a woman’s pregnancy and after the birth of a child. And what you have arranged here is real propaganda against men and fathers. ” “Become men already, you fools.” “Have at least some self-esteem, you dishonor men.”
Such comments only made the guys even more depressed.
“The truth is, I don’t want to meet people. I don’t want to see their gaze and outright laughter. I started to avoid people I don’t know; I’m tired of explaining why I have breasts and why I’m dressed like a participant in a home sadomasochistic video. “
So even if the hormones in men did not jump like in women, their mood was also extremely changeable.
Here’s what the men learned after a month of experimenting:
“Women usually say that you are gorgeous in a pregnant suit. Men think you’re a fool. And 5-year-old boys think that you are a punching bag. “
“Having breasts is fun only on the first day, and then it only gets in the way.”
“I never thought that a stranger stroking your belly could be so annoying.”
And finally: “This whole test is definitely not for a person.”
And these guys went further and decided to experience what women feel during childbirth.