A young woman who was born without sexual organs has undergone a complex surgery to get a vagina and feel more like herself.
Watch Young Woman Speak Out About Her Life Without Reproductive Organs!
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18-year-old Jyoti Gambill-Read was born as an intersex baby, something that she describes as “not having the typical binary sex organs or parts.”
Despite developing as a male for the first 12 weeks inside the uterus, Jyoti’s development suddenly stopped and led her to be born neither as a boy or a girl due to her lack of sexual organs.
While she never let that hold her back, Jyoti has always felt like a girl which is why she started taking estrogen in her teen years.
Just months ago, the 18-year-old also decided to undergo life-changing surgery by getting a vaginal opening and canal so that she could enjoy sex life and feel more like herself.
“Being intersex has definitely impacted my self-esteem and my confidence. The surgery has basically matched up to my body to what I believe it should be,” the girl from Hopkins, Minnesota, said in an interview with Barcroft TV.
“I’ve never really felt like less of a female, less of a girl because I don’t have a vagina. That’s just part of me that I had control over – but I feel like I’ve taken control of my body now.
“During the process, and initially going in, I was both nervous and excited. I mean, no one really knew how it was going to go!”
Fortunately, however, the procedure went as planned and the teenager couldn’t be happier despite still recovering.
“I’m feeling good. I’m very happy with the results – and I’m happy to start this new chapter in my life. I’m still pretty sore, but after 10 days of recovery in the hospital, I was pleased to get out when I did,” she added.
“The first couple of days were really hard for me, I was pretty out of it and in quite a bit of pain because the dilator wasn’t something my body was used to.
“Obviously I was under anesthesia for all of it, but what I heard was that it took my surgeon, Dr. Aliabadi, three attempts to try and attach a piece of my intestine to the opening. So what was supposed to be a four-hour surgery, took around eight hours.
“From what my mom said, he was completely drained afterward, but I appreciate him so much, I’m so thankful to him. I can’t express my gratitude enough.”
Following the biggest and most important change in her life, Jyoti added she feels relieved because she’s wanted the surgery for so long.
“I wanted the surgery so I could explore more of my sexuality as I get older and I head into my early 20s. I wanted to have more freedom and not have to be as awkward with dating,” she expressed.
“It’s my body, it’s my choice and I don’t regret it whatsoever. It’s my DNA, I can feel it in my bones and in my soul that I’m a woman. The surgery now acts as my means to an end for that.
“I know people are going to hate on all sorts of reasons of like, why I shouldn’t have done it. One of the biggest reasons why I felt comfortable making this decision, is that I knew I had so much love and support from my parents and my grandma. I’ve gotten a lot closer to her and she visited me a couple of times in the hospital, which is really nice.”
Despite having a vagina, Jyoti admitted she will still be open to her potential partners about her history.
“I know, for me, the surgery is going to make things much less awkward at the beginning of the dating process. I’m still going to address it early on in any potential relationship because I’m not going to lie to myself,” she said.
“It just gives me a lot more confidence to put myself out there, to showcase myself and be open with people. I can only hope I meet someone and I meet other people who have that same kind of mentality.
“I am bisexual/pansexual, as I find men, women, and anybody on the gender spectrum attractive. I don’t care about what someone identifies as, to be attracted to them or to date them. I’m just very grateful to share my story to the world and to hopefully inspire others to be themselves.”
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