What is the term for phobia of becoming mother?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the term for the phobia of becoming a mother. Participants explore various related terms and express differing views on the existence and naming of such a phobia, as well as the emotional responses associated with motherhood.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention "tokophobia" as a term related to the fear of childbirth but note that there is no widely accepted term for the fear of becoming a mother.
  • One participant suggests "parentophobia" as a possible term, while another mentions a German term, "dambrokinrubber" syndrome, though its validity is unclear.
  • Several terms for the fear of childbirth are cited, including "lockiophobia," "maieusiophobia," and "parturiphobia," but no consensus exists on a term for the fear of being a mother.
  • Participants discuss the emotional complexities surrounding motherhood, including fear and societal expectations, with some sharing personal anecdotes about their experiences with pregnancy and childbirth.
  • There is a humorous exchange about the use of the term "to guilt," with participants debating its grammatical correctness and the trend of verbifying nouns in English.
  • One participant proposes "maternaphobia" as a potential term for the fear of becoming a mother.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a specific term for the phobia of becoming a mother. There are multiple competing views and suggestions, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the existence of an official term.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about whether the discussion pertains to a fear of childbirth or a broader fear of parenting. The conversation includes personal reflections that highlight the emotional and psychological aspects of motherhood.

jackson6612
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What is the term for phobia of becoming mother? Please let me know.
 
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Well, there's tokophobia for childbirth, but I don't think there's an official name for a fear of becoming a mother. Parentophobia is the best I can come up with, and it's pseudo-Greek at best, just plain wrong at worst.
 
I can think only of the German term: "dambrokinrubber" syndrome.
 
:smile:

I found several for fear of childbirth: lockiophobia, maieusiophobia or parturiphobia. But nothing for fear of being a mom.
 
First, are you planning on using this information to guilt your wife into having a baby?
 
I have a nameless fear.
 
Pythagorean said:
First, are you planning on using this information to guilt your wife into having a baby?

:smile:

Humor aside (ahem...)
Are you referring to a real phobia or just the normal human reaction toward caring for something helpless? The latter is perfectly normal, and particularly for males. I'm not particularly innocuous, as is indicated by my name, but I felt... The first time that slept with a pregnant woman, and the first time that I held a little baby, were the same. I was afraid to move in case I broke something.
I've always wanted a child, but it's pretty much out of the question now. All of my girlfriends were either on birth control or naturally infertile, including W who had a diaphram and was menopausal (not to mention having already sparked off 6 offspring). I still want one, but there is no practicality to that desire. No woman that I consider a suitable mate would have anything to do with me, and even if she did I wouldn't be alive at the end of gestation. That sort of defeats the purpose, since the biological side is simply an ingrained urge and my desire is to raise someone in my mindset (with normal variations, of course).
At the back of my mind has also been that thought that, evolutionary pelvic structure notwithstanding, asking a woman to go through childbirth would be like me being asked to fire a 3 kg bowling ball out of my ***.
 
So you don't fear becoming a mother?
 
Thanks a lot, everyone, for your suggestions. I find many of them close to what I'm looking for.

Pythagorean said:
First, are you planning on using this information to guilt your wife into having a baby?

Hi Pyth

I'm a single!

I'm also an English learner as I'm sure you have already figured out. 'guilt' is a noun, therefore its use, "to guilt", in my humble and personal opinion, is incorrect. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Please don't mind anything.:smile:
 
  • #10
jackson6612 said:
"to guilt", in my humble and personal opinion, is incorrect.

Your opinion is correct. Python was using a common slang term which means to make one feel guilty about something.
 
  • #11
jackson6612 said:
I'm also an English learner as I'm sure you have already figured out. 'guilt' is a noun, therefore its use, "to guilt", in my humble and personal opinion, is incorrect. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Please don't mind anything.:smile:
You are correct that the grammar is incorrect. However, this is the net where grammatical errors are usually ignored. As a result, you should always assume that the grammar you read on the net might not be correct.
 
  • #12
Are you referring to a real phobia or just the normal human reaction toward caring for something helpless?

The real.

At the back of my mind has also been that thought that, evolutionary pelvic structure notwithstanding, asking a woman to go through childbirth would be like me being asked to fire a 3 kg bowling ball out of my ***.

See if you were a woman, you would have that phobia of becoming a mother!

Best wishes
Jack
 
  • #13
Phobias about potential motherness aside, verbifying nouns is positively de rigueur these days with English. First case up: Google.

*curtsy*

Disclaimer: Most examples of verbifying bug the ever-living-beejeebeez out of me.
 
  • #14
GeorginaS said:
Disclaimer: Most examples of verbifying bug the ever-living-beejeebeez out of me.

Obviously not too much
 
  • #15
Office_Shredder said:
Obviously not too much

:smile:
 
  • #16
When my mother was pregnant with my brother, she took my hand and put it on her tummy, it was okay until he kicked/ turned/ whatever he did... I was speechless… TERRIFIED! kind of like this cat's reaction:

[PLAIN]http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/funny-pictures-evil-genius-cat-is-excited-about-his-creation.jpg

I said to her “how do sleep at night with this… Alien in your tummy?”


Irony is, he's my favorite brother now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
she took my hand and put it on her tummy, it was okay until he kicked/ turned/ whatever he did... I was speechless

I didn't know that you could feel the movement of an unborn baby by placing a hand on the tummy. Probably, he just knew that it was his brother so he was a bit...excited, happy and turned a little bit around!
 
  • #18
jackson6612 said:
I didn't know that you could feel the movement of an unborn baby by placing a hand on the tummy. Probably, he just knew that it was his brother so he was a bit...excited, happy and turned a little bit around!

Sister :biggrin:.

Oh yes, you can definitely feel it moving from the outside. Sort of like a squirmy cat in a pillow case. But for a truly freaky feeling, you have to be on the other side...the mom!
 
  • #19
jackson6612 said:
I didn't know that you could feel the movement of an unborn baby by placing a hand on the tummy.
It's common to see the baby kicking or pushing. You could clearly see the foot of my daughter pushing against my stomach. The baby of a girl at work was kicking so hard that it was making her blouse jump with each kick.

Surely there are women that are phobic about becoming a mother, I was nearly phobic in my fear of going into labor, and I definitely did not ever want to be a mother. Is it because it's not "right" to not want to be a mother?
 
  • #20
I remember seeing and feeling the kicks of my children from within the womb. That was the first communication I had with them when I kicked them back.
 
  • #21
Surely there are women that are phobic about becoming a mother, I was nearly phobic in my fear of going into labor, and I definitely did not ever want to be a mother. Is it because it's not "right" to not want to be a mother?

Hi Evo

I'm an English learner, therefore I'm having a little difficulty in interpreting the sentence. What does that "it" refer to? Please let me know.
 
  • #22
I'm still not sure which fear is being referred to here. Are we talking about a fear of childbirth or a fear of parenting? The way this conversation is running, I think it's about childbirth, but I want to be sure.
 
  • #23
jackson6612 said:
What is the term for phobia of becoming mother?

Self-preservation?
 
  • #24
jackson6612 said:
'guilt' is a noun, therefore its use, "to guilt", in my humble and personal opinion, is incorrect.

As far as formal English is concerned, you are correct. However, in colloquial English it has lately become fashionable to convert nouns into verbs. The most common example is probably "gift", as in "he gifted me the book." We call this process, naturally enough, "verbing." (turning the noun "verb" itself into a verb ) (or maybe that was just in the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip?)

CalvinVerbing.jpg


Apparently not: English likes to verb
 
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  • #25
jtbell said:
As far as formal English is concerned, you are correct. However, in colloquial English it has lately become fashionable to convert nouns into verbs. The most common example is probably "gift", as in "he gifted me the book." We call this process, naturally enough, "verbing." (turning the noun "verb" itself into a verb ) (or maybe that was just in the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip?)

CalvinVerbing.jpg


Apparently not: English likes to verb

A more recent example is that we now google [verb] on Google [proper noun].
 
  • #26
At least with "to google" and "to guilt" we didn't have a convenient verb already handy, so those are actually useful coinages. "To gift" on the other hand... ewww.
 
  • #27
Maternaphobia.
 
  • #28
Pro-Choice.just joking ;-)
 
  • #29
jtbell said:
At least with "to google" and "to guilt" we didn't have a convenient verb already handy, so those are actually useful coinages. "To gift" on the other hand... ewww.

I think I shall taco tonight.
 
  • #30
Evo said:
It's common to see the baby kicking or pushing. You could clearly see the foot of my daughter pushing against my stomach. The baby of a girl at work was kicking so hard that it was making her blouse jump with each kick.

That was no foot. That was a tiny hand reaching frantically for your debit card. :-p
 

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