Woman without vagina gets shot at motherhood

She was born without a vagina, cervix and womb. After struggling with her condition for 20 years, Hetal* has finally got a shot at being able to live a normal life, marry and even have children. The Sarkhej resident suffered from MayerRockitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome or MRKH, a rare syndrome which affects the reproductive system. In a four-hour long operation, doctors at Sola Civil Hospital performed a vaginoplasty using Davydov procedure to create a vaginal canal.The operation was risky as Hetal only had one kidney and it was positioned near the vagina.
Hetal is the third of four sisters. Her father works with a private firm in GIDC area while her mother is a housewife. “She was born without a vagina. We went to several private hospitals in Gujarat and Maharashtra but the doctors said it would cost at least Rs 10 lakh to carry out an operation,“ said her mother.
Her parents had to be discreet about the enquiries. “If word got out that Hetal had such a problem, my other daughters would have had to suffer too. No one would marry them thinking this is hereditary,“ she said.
The family had all but given up hope till they consulted Dr Ajesh Desai, senior gynaecologist at Sola Civil. “One in 4,500 women are affected by MRKH. Hetal had both ovaries which meant that she could have children through in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. However, her sole kidney was close to her vagina and the operation could damage it,“ said Dr Desai.
The team studied similar cases in foreign countries. Three days ago, they carried out the operation successfully. Superintendent (Sola Civil) Dr H K Bhavsar said, “We used the Davydov operation in which the vagina is created using a patient's own peritoneal lining. The peritoneum is a membrane that lines the walls of the abdominal and pelvic cavities. This is quite expensive but we conducted it for free under government's Maa scheme extended to people below poverty line.“
(*Name changed to protect identity)