Rule

Clbull@lemmy.world to 196@lemmy.blahaj.zone – 687 points –
34

Americans need much better sex education

The replies in this post is precisely why we need better sex ed.

There's an astounding number of people who aren't aware about PCOS or IBS and think that the woman in the ad is actually stupid for taking a pregnancy test.

I have both, and my doctor had to give me an hGC test to rule out pregnancy because my abdomen was as bloated as the woman in the picture.

Neither of these conditions are rare, and either one can cause bloating and swelling, often chronically, to this degree.

It's called Predictor, so it's probably predicting the birth gender of the baby and not a pregnancy test.

So many people here who don't know about PCOS or PCOS belly and actually think the woman in the picture is stupid.

It can reach that size!? That sucks.

Yes. PCOS causes hormonal imbalances in that lead to bloating, abnormal amounts of abdominal fat, cramps. The cherry on top is having IBS at the same time.

Everything combined stretches my stomach to the point where my skin hurts. When I consulted my doctor about it, she had to do an hCG test to be sure that I wasn't pregnant.

Yeah but women with PCOS are fat all over and have excessive facial hair growth. The woman in the photo up there clearly does not have PCOS.

Yeah but women with PCOS are fat all over

Nope, think again. In addition to being fat all over women with PCOS also develop higher proportions of belly fat due to fluctuating testosterone levels. This is not unlike beer bellies that men develop.

This, combined with bloating can lead to a distended belly similar to the woman in the picture. I know because I have PCOS and yes, it can get that bad. I had people personally come up to me and shamelessly ask if I was pregnant.

There is no universal 'look' to PCOS. You cannot diagnose or undiagnose someone based on how they look, especially if they suffer from lean PCOS. Look up pictures of 'PCOS belly' and you'll see a wide range of stomach, many to the point of appearing pregnant.

I know someone who had uterine fibroids. It didn't really bother her otherwise, so she just let them be, until people started congratulating her on being pregnant. (Then she had them removed.)

They're excited to find out it's a baby because they were worried it was a cancerous cyst.

I don't get it.

They're looking at the results of a pregnancy test when the lady is clearly about 8 months pregnant.

She probably swallowed a watermelon seed so I can understand the surprise.

So precious to know people from various cultures pulled this prank on their kids

Maybe she just drank too much water and is about to die in a matter of hours.