We kid you not
Youtube vlogger, Cassandra Bankson, has revealed that she has two vaginas. We looked at how this is possible and what this means for Bankson and women like her…
After complaining of back pain, the Youtube star went for a scan which revealed she had just one kidney but two vaginas, two wombs and two cervixes.
“Most vaginas are one large cavity but this is a complete separation into two different cavities. I was shocked and the doctor explained to me that it was like an upside nose,” said the 22-year-old model.
What It Means
Her condition, known as uterus didelphys, is a rare condition which only affects about one in 2000 women worldwide.
The female reproductive system is fairly symmetrical with two ovaries and two fallopian tubes. The uterus is actually a fusion from either side of the system to create one uterus. Sometimes during development, things can go wrong and two uteruses, two vaginas, and two cervixes can be created.
While the condition may not lead to her being unable to conceive or leave her more susceptible to feminine cancers, it can lead to other complications such as miscarriages and premature birth.
Watch her story here…
But how is it possible to not know that you have two vaginas? Wouldn’t that be obvious? Nope, says Dr. Jason James, the chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Baptist Hospital of Miami.
“It’s not the type of thing that women find out on their own,” he says. “It’s also fairly easy for a gynaecologist to miss it.” When you have a double vagina, there’s essentially a septum (like the one in your nose) that separates the vagina in half, he explains. That septum usually divides down the middle but often one of the vaginas develops to become the “dominant passageway” due to tampon use and sex, and the other gets essentially pushed to the side.
“When the gynaecologist examines the patient, the speculum more easily goes into the dominant vagina,” he says. If a doctor isn’t paying close attention, James says, he or she could miss a double vagina altogether.
This article was originally published on www.womenshealthmag.com
