A 21-year-old woman has revealed how her 'uterus grew' without experiencing puberty.
Ashley Riley, from Western Australia, said that by the time she left primary school, many of her friends had started menstruating and going through puberty.
“That never happened to me and I wasn't sure if it was normal or if I was a late bloomer so I didn't say anything about it,” she told news.com.au.
It wasn't until she was 16 that she told her mother and aunt what was going on, and they took her to their GP.
After telling her doctor that she had never had a period and had never developed breasts, she was sent for an ultrasound.
Examination revealed that she had no uterus or cervix and a shortened vaginal canal.
As a result, she was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome, a condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent, despite the external genitalia appearing normal.
This means that over the past five years, Ashley has had countless specialist appointments, scans, blood tests and MRIs.
She was also prescribed a hormone called estrogen.
“The last test I had was an internal ultrasound and they said, 'There's a uterus' and I said, 'Sorry'. I was in shock,” she said.
“I didn't know what to say, especially after all these years of thinking there was nothing there. I still haven't fully recovered.”
Ashley said specialists told her what happened to her was “rare” and that most people cannot “grow” their uterus by taking estrogen alone.
She was told that as her uterus continued to grow it was possible she could conceive, but as her ovaries were not very active, IVF would be more likely to help her conceive.
If you change your medication as advised by your doctor, you can expect your period to come soon.
But it's not all good news.
Ashley said a full body X-ray revealed that she had hormonal scoliosis, which had caused her bone density and size to be that of a 14-year-old.
“I'm somewhat hopeful, but at the same time I don't want to get my hopes up too much,” Ashley said.
The young woman revealed that she had wanted to be a mother all her life and said that when she first found out about her situation five years ago, it was hard for her to accept the news.
“The original plan was to have a surrogate,” she said.
“We're changing our mindset, but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.”
However, the initial diagnosis of MRKH turned out to be incorrect.
She has since been re-diagnosed with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (also called hypogonadotropic hypogonadism).
Hypo-ovarian failure is a condition in which the ovaries produce little to no sex hormones due to problems with the pituitary gland, a condition Ashley says she's still learning about.
Ashley is sharing her story. TikTok She knows there isn't much information available about MRKH or hypoglycemia, so she created the page because she wants to be an example for people to follow.
As someone who has experienced it herself and felt unable to speak up, she wants to give others the confidence to speak up.
