Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend has ‘sympathy cravings’—and science says they’re real

Khloe Kardashian is the pregnant one, but boyfriend Tristan Thompson is glad to indulge his own “expectant parent” cravings, the Keeping up With the Kardashians star told Ellen DeGeneres this week.

“They say that men take on sympathy cravings, or pregnancy or whatever,” Kardashian says, adding her NBA player boyfriend is devouring Jamaican food and chocolate chip cookies like he’s the one growing a baby. “I swear he’s milking it for all he can… It’s just an excuse.”

Those sympathy cravings are real, though—with one study finding up to 80% of expectant fathers experience symptoms or cravings common in pregnancy. Called “couvade” among experts, the feelings can extend from everything to cravings to actual pains.

Says biology professor Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards in an article for Scientific American, “A large number of mental health professionals have considered a range of hypotheses—from jealousy about a man’s inability to carry a child to guilt over having caused this transformation in his partner to selfish attention seeking—as the root causes of couvade.”

Or, she continues, the explanation could be as simple as the partner coming to crave the meals the expectant mother is already indulging. Because who among us can resist chocolate chip cookies if the smell is wafting from the kitchen?

As for Kardashian, she says she has zero complaints about Thompson’s role in her pregnancy otherwise.

“He’s really a dream and I feel just really lucky. It’s really surreal to me,” she tells DeGeneres, adding she hopes to marry him someday—but isn’t in a rush this time. “As you know, I’ve rushed quite a few things before, so right now I’m so loving the place I am in my life and I’m just happy with how things are going. We talk about it, for sure, but we’re both just happy where we are. What’s meant to be will be.”

A post shared by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on Jan 4, 2018 at 6:57am PST

For now, the couple is focusing their attention on the upcoming arrival of their baby–even though Kardashian is still resisting the siren song of stretchy pants.

“Hopefully I look pregnant, not just fat, so people realize if I don’t feel well or tired or whatever. It’s hard for me to breathe right now, but other than that I’m good,” says Kardashian, who marked the six-months milestone with a stylish Instagram photo this week. “I’m going to try to not wear maternity clothes as long as possible.”

She also waited as long as possible to publicly share the pregnancy news, which she explains was her way of enjoying the secret with her friends and family.

“I’ve wanted to have a baby for so long and it’s just the perfect timing in my eyes,” she says. “God always has His plan and I just wanted to do it on my time and when I felt comfortable to do so.”

That’s such a sweet point—although we’ve got to admit we’re happy she’s now sharing the pregnancy journey with us.