She was 18 when she was diagnosed with the rare disorder Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS). The same year, she was one of the first women to receive a bio-engineered vagina grown from her own cells.
How has your life changed since the operation?
It is difficult to answer briefly. Thanks to the tissue engineering I have a normal life. I am enjoying this opportunity the doctors have given me.
At the beginning it wasn’t easy, thinking that a part of your body was going to be made in a laboratory. It was difficult to understand. But as the years pass and with the good results, you find a way of life which is different but not too far from normality.
Related on the SLP
You start from a point where you are scared of everything, of trying anything – you feel you aren’t normal. But with time, the support of friends and my partner, and the unconditional support of my mother who gave her all to understand me, I feel I am a very lucky person, fully satisfied.
Read the full, original story: Exclusive: My lab-grown vagina and hopes for a family
