Born With No Vagina

[Randy]

A British teenager said she was in "total shock" to learn that she had been born without a vagina.

During a routine visit to the doctor, Jacqui Beck, 17, mentioned that she hadn't started getting her periods. Tests soon showed that she had MRKH syndrome, a genetic condition that meant she had been born without a vagina, womb or cervix.

"I left the doctor's [office] in tears. I would never know what it was like to give birth, be pregnant, have a period. All the things I had imagined doing suddenly got erased from my future," Beck told the Daily Mail. "I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more."

Shocking as it may seem, Beck is not alone. In fact, her condition isn't even especially rare. According to the National Institutes of Health, Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (named for the physicians that first diagnosed it), or MRKH, affects one in 4,500 newborn girls.

The condition mainly affects the reproductive system and "causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent." According to the NIH, it mostly occurs in people with no family history of the disorder.

The external genitalia are normal, and women with MRKH have functioning ovaries and undergo puberty. The condition is usually detected once someone with MRKH tries to have sex, or doesn't begin having periods by age 16.

Like Beck, Christina Ruth was diagnosed with MRKH at age 17. She spoke out about her condition in May, after graduating from high school. She said the shame associated with the disorder can be difficult to deal with.

"I had two doctors ask me why I hadn't fixed myself yet," Ruth told Lancaster Online at the time. "That's completely inappropriate. I was born this way and should not be made to feel like I am second-rate because of it."

Although the condition has no cure, there are several treatment options available to women with MRKH. Medical procedures such as dilation or surgery can help create a vaginal canal in women with MRKH, allowing them to have intercourse. Eggs can be removed and fertilized to be used in surrogacy.

Several support communities for women with MRKH exist. The Beautiful You MRKH Foundation, a non-profit group, seeks to "eliminate the shame and isolation that often accompanies a diagnosis of MRKH."

Beck, now 19, is also taking ownership of her condition.

"I’m a hopeless romantic and I see it as a great test of someone’s character. Instead of focusing on it putting off men, I actually think it will help me find 'the one',” Beck told the Daily Mail.

"I want to be upfront with any men I meet and tell them straight away about my condition... If they run at the mention of MRKH then I don’t want to be intimate with them."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/jacqui-beck-no-vagina-mrkh_n_4274401.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

 

[Jazzy]

Although the condition has no cure, there are several treatment options available to women with MRKH. Medical procedures such as dilation or surgery can help create a vaginal canal in women with MRKH, allowing them to have intercourse. Eggs can be removed and fertilized to be used in surrogacy.

I'm glad she has several treatment options available. Also, she can still have children one day if she decides to go the surrogate route. She's got a get attitude and I'm sure one day she'll find 'the one' and live a happy life.

 

[Sinon]

"I had two doctors ask me why I hadn't fixed myself yet," Ruth told Lancaster Online at the time. "That's completely inappropriate. I was born this way and should not be made to feel like I am second-rate because of it."

I don't really see that as inappropriate. They're medical professionals, and their goal in their job is to make sure their patients are 100% well. They could have worded it better, but I don't see it as inappropriate.

 

[Bluezone777]

I guess with any disability that it makes people sensitive as they don't like feeling inferior to others. i don't think the doctor was implying that she was inferior as it was probably just how she saw it.

It's good that she's willing to be upfront about it to the men she dates as it's only right they know going in as to what they would deal with due to her condition. It takes courage to be open about such things I imagine.

 

[JetWing34]

That would take a critical hit to her life. I wonder how she would have children and survive through periods. It feels like it would be impossible to do any of that.

 

[Sinon]

That would take a critical hit to her life. I wonder how she would have children and survive through periods. It feels like it would be impossible to do any of that.

Uh. Reading might be useful.

"I left the doctor's [office] in tears. I would never know what it was like to give birth, be pregnant, have a period. All the things I had imagined doing suddenly got erased from my future," Beck told the Daily Mail. "I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more."

and

The condition is usually detected once someone with MRKH tries to have sex, or doesn't begin having periods by age 16.