Heartbreak of being born without a womb, cervix and vagina

A woman who was born without a womb, cervix and vagina has spoken out about the condition which means she’ll never be able to have children .

Joanna Giannouli, 27, was unaware she had Rokitansky syndrome until she went to see a doctor after she hadn’t started her period like her other girls her age, The Mirror reports.

Medics discovered she didn’t have a vaginal tunnel and sent her for major surgery at the age of 17 to create one in order for her to have sex .

Rokitansky syndrome, which affects one in 5,000, means a woman is born with an underdeveloped or absent womb, cervix and upper vagina but have ovaries and external genitalia and still develop breasts and pubic hair.

The operation to create a vagina was revolutionary in Athens, Greece, where Joanna lives, but it left her in a lot of pain as the tunnel was ‘narrow and small’ and she had to go back to have the entrance expanded.

Joanna told BBC Magazine’s Harry Low : “It steals your happiness, your mentality, your chances of having a good and stable relationship.

“It leaves you with a huge void that cannot be filled, it fills you with anger, guilt, and shame.”

But now 10 years on from her operation she says that while she still has her battles, she’s not ashamed anymore as she’s realised there’s nothing that can be done to change it.

“I would love to be a mother in some way, be it a biological, a surrogate mother or a foster mum. A mother is not the one who gives birth but is the woman who cares for a child.”

By speaking out it has given her strength and courage and she wants to help other women in the same position.

Share your comments below.

Image via BBC News

17 Comments

- - juwairiyyahsadiq93@gmail.com said
  - 30 May 2016
    12:21 am
Thats really sad, but your also brave to speak out well done

- - mom101628 said
  - 06 May 2016
    9:11 pm
She is a very brave and strong young woman and she is right – being a mother is nurturing a child not necessarily giving birth to it.

- - Some_Toss said
  - 29 Apr 2016
    11:42 am
Good for her! So fantastic that she has come to terms with her situation, and that she understands the true definition of ‘Mother’. 😀 Thanks for sharing!

- - mom113991 said
  - 28 Apr 2016
    11:31 pm
i had never heard of this before. i hope that she can one day fulfill her dream of being a mother.

- - damish70 said
  - 23 Apr 2016
    8:48 pm
She’s right being given the title “Mother” its all about semantics whether it be biological, surrogate or foster.

- - Threelos said
  - 23 Apr 2016
    6:20 pm
Wow, wishing this strong young woman every happiness for the future.

- - june11 said
  - 20 Apr 2016
    10:05 pm
I hope her dream comes true and she becomes a Mum regardless of how it occurs. I wonder what procedure they would have to use to retrieve eggs if there is any. Failing that, if she wishes to I hope she can adopt a baby. The problem with fostering is sometimes it can change from long term to short term at very short notice and I am certain she would really struggle with that.

- - meedee said
  - 20 Apr 2016
    12:00 pm
She is so very correct when she says that a mother is the one that cares for the child. The one that loves the child.

- - mom81879 said
  - 20 Apr 2016
    8:57 am
I cannot imagine being born with basic body parts missing. Well done to this young girl for having the courage to speak out about it, a sign (I hope) that age is dealing with it

- - mum4107 said
  - 20 Apr 2016
    5:39 am
What a brave yound lady for speaking out. I hope she gets to adopt a beautiful baby

- - mom165081 said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    5:37 pm
1 in 5000 is a lot of women who suffer. So good to see she has the courage to speak out and help others. She sounds like a caring, compassionate and strong woman.

- - Lori-Anne said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    4:48 pm
An incredibly strong woman. It can be devastating to have any kind of condition that affects your womanhood or manhood. That threatens your physical and sexual identity. Hats off to her for continuing to seek the best health care and resolutions to her condition.

- - mom90758 said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    1:21 pm
What a terrible syndrome! I’ve never heard about it before.

- - Tinarh said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    1:14 pm
When I started to read this I didn’t understand how you would not know, but then reading on to see that externallly everything would appear normal. I hope that, given she has ovaries, she can have a biological child via surrogacy <3

- - BellaB said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    1:13 pm
How sad – this would have so many emotional repercussions.

- - VernaB said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    11:27 am
I wish her all the best with her future battles.

- - taynik46 said
  - 19 Apr 2016
    11:23 am
how brave is this lady for making others aware of this particular medical issue – I for one had never know it was possible for that to even happen.

May she be blessed with the opportunity in which form it comes to be a mother