MRKH Conference

Here’s the thing… Since I was 16, I’ve known that I am different than most women. I like to talk about poop and farts, I like beer, chicken wings, football and I really like to burp.  Just kidding (kinda, but not really). I’ve known I am different because I cant join in the following conversations with other women:

1)      Do you have a tampon?

2)      Are you worried about getting pregnant?

3)      Does your uterus hurt? (ok, so maybe I’ve never actually heard anyone ask another woman this, I just assume this is something they say)

But although I am different, I’ve never felt not supported, loved or cared for. If anything, I have felt more of those things than most people. So, I never really thought I needed to meet other woman with MRKH for support. BOY WAS I WRONG!

Last month, I had the opportunity to go to Michigan to an MRKH conference, and I still haven’t quite figured out the right words to describe my time there.  Was it awkward? 100% YES!  The word vagina was said 57 times in 1 hour!  I knew one person. That was it.  So, I had a few glasses of beer to get to know some people better, and that helped. The conference was super informative! The University of Michigan’s research team did an outstanding job of presenting the most recent MRKH information (and obvious shout out to the Beautiful You team). This was great. But I think the thing that was most impactful to me, was meeting other woman who ar

e like me. They were all ages! I could see myself in each and every one of them. They lived normal lives. They had inappropriate humor. They liked to drink. They were skinny, chubby, tall, short… Normal looking woman from the outside, but on the inside they are the only ones who truly understand the daily struggle of someone who has MRKH. This was not something I knew I needed. Why do I care so much if someone understands me? I actually don’t know the answer to that. So, I guess, if I had to come up with a way to describe my experience to Michigan for the MRKH conference, it would simply be – Life Changing.

Side note:  This condition may seem rare… But it is not THAT rare.  It effect 1-4,500 women. And if I am doing my math correctly, that means there are maybe 8 woman in my medium sized town of about 77,000 people who have MRKH. When a woman is first diagnosed with MRKH, it is scary. Doctors don’t know what it is, parents don’t know, and certainly friends and family don’t know.  The more we talk about it, the more normal it can become, and the less alone these woman will feel. Talk about it.