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"Sex Life Normal for Women with Rebuilt Vagina" is the headline of the Reuters Health news story dated September 12, 2003, but its interpretation of the study the article is based on is inaccurate. The Reuters story states that "an artificial vagina... can lead to a normal sex life for women with an uncommon disorder in which the organ is missing, new research suggests." However, this is not the conclusion of the research, which is published in the September 2003 issue of Fertility and Sterility.
The study actually states that the constructed vagina "allowed a normal sexual life in patients who had sexual relations" (emphasis mine). More precisely, the study reports that women with surgically constructed vagina who have intercourse at least once a week score similarly to the control group, i.e. women who were born with "normal" vagina. The authors further admit that including those women who are less sexually active "lowered the mean value" (p. 603 in the paper). In short, when all subjects are included, women who had vagina constructed as a group SCORE LOWER than the control group, contrary to the Reuters report.
Below is a copy of the letter we sent to the Reuters:
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Dear Reuters Health Editors,
I'm writing in response to the article "Sex Life Normal for Women with Rebuilt Vagina," which was published online at Fri September 12, 2003 05:49 PM ET. After reading the actual paper that the story is based on (in Vol. 80, No. 3 of "Fertility and Sterility"), I find the headline and the story inaccurate or at least misleading.
Your story states "an artificial vagina... can lead to a normal sex life for women with an uncommon disorder in which the organ is missing, new research suggests." However, this is NOT the conclusion of the study. The study clearly states that the constructed vagina "allowed a normal sexual life in patients WHO HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS" (emphasis mine). More precisely, the study reports that women with surgically constructed vagina who HAVE INTERCOURSE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK score similarly to the control group, i.e. women who were born with "normal" vagina. The authors further admit that including those women who are less sexually active "lowered the mean value" (p. 603 in the study). In short, when all subjects are included, women who had vagina constructed as a group SCORE LOWER than the control group, contrary to the Reuters report.
I fear that such reporting by a trusted news source as Reuters would mislead MRKH patients and their family members to underestimate risks of surgical treatment or have unrealistic expectation about it. I hope that you would issue a correction for this mistake, and be careful in the future reporting about this and other crucial health issues.
Emi Koyama
Director, Intersex Initiative
http://www.ipdx.org/
Posted by Emi on Sep 17, 2003