"" 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.'
Because she had never attempted to have a
physical relationship, Miss Beck had never
noticed the problem herself. Had she tried,
she would have discovered it was impossible
for her to have sex.
She said: 'It wasn’t really a conscious
decision not to have a boyfriend, I just didn’t
really fancy any of the boys in my area, which
is lucky, considering what I know now’.
MRKH affects one in 5,000 women in the UK.
Most discover they have the condition
because they haven't started their periods,
but some find out when they struggle to have
intercourse.
Miss Beck explained she has a 'dimple' where
her vagina should be so from the outside it
looks normal - which explains why the
condition wasn't detected earlier.
Despite the shocking news, she is trying to
see her condition in a positive light - and
even as a way of making sure she meets the
right man.
She said: 'If he has a problem with it, then
he’s not the kind of guy I want to go out
with.
'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”.
'I want to be upfront with any men I meet and
tell them straight away about my condition. I
don’t want them to feel tricked into being
with me.
‘I will feel more comfortable if they know the
truth and besides, if they run at the mention
of MRKH then I don’t want to be intimate
with them.'
She says that as a teenager, she was
blissfully unaware of her condition - with no
idea that the development she was waiting
for would never happen.
'When I was 14, my friends started talking to
me about their periods. They started carrying
tampons around, complaining about cramps
and sharing notes on what it was like.
‘For a year I waited to go through the same,
until at 15, everyone I knew had started their
period apart from me.
Despite the shocking news, she is trying to
see her condition in a positive light - and
even as a way of making sure she meets the
right man. She said: 'If he has a problem with
it, then he’s not the kind of guy I want to see'
‘I didn’t panic though, I’m tall and skinny
and thought that might be something to do
with me being a late developer.’
Instead, she focused on her future and when
she was 17, applied to attend a music college
in Guildford.
But after suffering from pain in her neck in
summer 2012, she went to see her GP.
'While I was there, I mentioned I hadn’t
started my period yet. I still wasn’t overly
worried but I thought it was worth saying
something
‘My doctor was very surprised but didn’t
seem to think it was serious. He just
suggested that he would do some scans to
see what the problem was.'
When scans showed nothing, she was referred
to a gynaecologist, who immediately spotted
something was wrong.
Miss Beck said: ‘My other scan results had
been sent to her and just from looking at
them, she knew I had MRKH.
‘She sat me down and basically explained
that I didn’t have a womb, or a vagina, that I
was born without them and instead just had
a small dimple in it’s place.'
So mortified by what she had heard, she was
too embarrassed to admit to family and
friends she had the condition - let alone the
prospect of telling any future boyfriends.
She said: ‘I was too embarrassed to call my
mum and talk it through with her, so instead,
I sent her an email.
'She called straight back and came over to
Guildford the next day from the Isle of Wight.
‘Although mum was upset for me, she tried to
focus on finding out as much about the
condition as possible, so we could
understand it.
‘She also encouraged me to focus on the
bright side. We laughed as we listed all the
things I wouldn’t have to go through, period
cramps, childbirth, smear tests - to try and
look on the bright side.’
Focusing on her treatment, Miss Beck was
admitted to the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea
Hospital in London, which specialises in the
condition.
There, she was given dilation treatment,
which involved using different sized dilators
to try and stretch her vaginal canal - but was
told if it didn’t work, she would have to be
operated on.
She said: ‘I spent two days there, getting
taught how to use the dilator and learning
more about MRKH.
‘The first time the nurse showed me how to
use a dilator I nearly died of embarrassment.
But now I've got used to it, I see it as any
other form of treatment.
‘At the hospital, they referred me to a
network of other women who have the same
condition. It was great to speak to other girls
who felt like me.
‘I stopped feeling so lonely and it also gave
me hope as I spoke to women who had gone
on to have a full sex life.’
Thankfully, her treatment has worked and if
she continues she will not need surgery and
when she chooses to, will be able to have
intercourse.
Further down the line there are more difficult
conversations she will have to have to have
when she wants to have children.
She said: ‘I’m not at an age when I’m
thinking about kids, but I think that will hit
me later on. I will use a surrogate, or adopt,
but I will have to make sure any guy I meet is
ok with that too.
‘Again, I try and take it as a blessing that,
unlike woman who discover they can’t
conceive when they are already trying for a
baby, I have time to get used to the idea.’
For Miss Beck, her one hope is that the
condition becomes more well known, so that
other women realise they have it earlier than
she did.
‘I had only told five of my best friends, but
then I realised it’s not something I should be
ashamed of.
‘If I had cancer, or, any other medical issue,
people would be supportive. So, I recently
came out to everyone on Facebook, telling
them about my condition.
‘I was surprised at how positive everyone
was, they said I was brave and beautiful, now
I wish I had been open about it from the
beginning.’"" LINK.

She is brave, in so many ways. And I agree w/the doctors.. There is a bright side.

@Zilya777: Evidently she will eventually be fully functional except for not being able to have kids.....or have a period, or cramps, or mood swings, some women wld think THATS a great bright side lol

@WalkSoftly: Exactly, the way I see it. I give her credit for the bravery & self esteem.. To let this be pubic or respond to it. I see it as ... She is increasing public awareness as to "it takes more than a vagina, to make a woman "