Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #452

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
WomanBornWithout VaginaBecomesTheFirst To HaveOneSurgicallyCreatedFromTilapiaFishSkin
A Brazilian woman who lived her entire life without a vagina recently underwent life changing sur- gery to have one constructed out of fish skin.
Jucilene Marinho, 23, became the first of four women to have neo- vaginoplasty in April of last year. Marinho decided to have the reconstruc-
tive surgery after she learned at the age of 15 that she was born with Mayer- Rokitansky- Küster-Hause (MRKH), a con- dition that left her with no cervix, uterus or ovaries.
Marinho had the procedure per- formed at the Federal University of Ceará Brazil by gynecologist Dr.
Leonardo Bezerra, report- ed Metro.Co.UK .
The procedure involved doctors creating a space between her vagina and anus in order to insert a mold with freshwater tilapia, which is extremely plenti- ful in Brazil’s rivers. The fish skin is used because once it becomes in con- tact with the
patient’s body, it acts similarly to stem cells and is absorbed in the cellular tis- sue of the patient.
Eventually it transforms and creates walls of the canal, simi- lartothatofa natural actual vagina.
Six months after agreeing to the procedure, Marinho was able to have sex
for the first time with her boyfriend of over a year.
“At first I was very scared to do it because I thought it would hurt and I was worried it might damage the opening,” Marinho told FocusOn News.
“But it was a wonderful moment because every- thing worked perfectly. There was no pain just a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction,” Marinho added.
Marinho was not diagnosed with MRKH until she was 15. Although she experienced a relatively normal puberty, includ- ing menstrual cramps, Marinho never got a period. She was even teased and mocked by her then-boyfriend
when he learned of her condition.
“I cried a lot when I found out,” Marinho told FocusOn News. “I’d always dreamed of having a baby ofmyownnowI had to accept that wouldn't be possible.”
Now, Marinho is able to develop a more intimate relationship with her partner and said it feels like she never had MRKH.
“Everything felt sensitive in what I'm told is the right and normal way. It was per- fectly natural like the opening had always been there,” Marinho told FocusOn News. “It felt so good to have some- thing the majori- ty of women take for grant- ed.”
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine