- Jacqui Beck was diagnosed after telling her GP she had not started periods
- Tests revealed she had MRKH, a condition affecting one in 5,000 women
- While she has ovaries, she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening
- Where her vagina should be, there is an indent, making it appear normal
- Sufferers appear completely normal externally - which means it is often not discovered until a woman tries to have sex, or has not had her period
- She is now undergoing treatment to enable her to have sex in the future
- Says she has now come to terms with her condition and wants to speak about it to raise awareness
A teenager has spoken of her 'total shock' at being told at the age of 17 she had no vagina.
Jacqui Beck, 19, has MRKH, an rare syndrome which affects the reproductive system - meaning she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening.
She was only diagnosed after she went to her GP about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods.
Tests revealed her condition and that where her vagina should be, there is simply an ident, or 'dimple' - meaning she is unable to have sex or carry her own child.
Women with the condition appear completely normal externally - which means it is usually not discovered until a woman tries to have sex, or has not had her first period.
Miss Beck, from the Isle of Wight, admits when she was first diagnosed, she felt 'like a freak'.
'I'd never considered myself different from other women and the news was so shocking, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
‘I was sure the doctor had got it wrong, but when she explained that was why I wasn’t having periods, it all started to make sense.
‘She then explained that I would never be able to carry a child and might have to have surgery before I could have sex.
‘I left the doctors 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.
'I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more.'
WHAT IS MRKH SYNDROME?
MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser) is a congenital abnormality which affects one in 5,000 women in the UK.
It is characterised by the absence of the vagina, womb and cervix.
Women suffering from the condition will have normally functioning ovaries and so will experience the normal signs of puberty but will not have periods or be able to conceive.
The external genatalia are completely normal which is why MRKH isn’t usually discovered until women are in their teenage years.
It’s usually discovered when the woman tries to has sex or fails to get her period.
Many women are able to create a vaginal canal using dilation treatment, which uses cylinder shaped dilators of different sizes to stretch the muscles.
However, if this is unsuccessful then surgery will be used to stretch the vaginal canal.
It is characterised by the absence of the vagina, womb and cervix.
Women suffering from the condition will have normally functioning ovaries and so will experience the normal signs of puberty but will not have periods or be able to conceive.
The external genatalia are completely normal which is why MRKH isn’t usually discovered until women are in their teenage years.
It’s usually discovered when the woman tries to has sex or fails to get her period.
Many women are able to create a vaginal canal using dilation treatment, which uses cylinder shaped dilators of different sizes to stretch the muscles.
However, if this is unsuccessful then surgery will be used to stretch the vaginal canal.
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