Today, we have a guest thread for you from Ellamae, founder of @vavawomb_ and a proud maker of her own vagina, who's going to tell you about her experiences of MRKH and vaginal dilation.

I am the proud maker of my vagina, but I wish I would have known from the start that I didn’t need to be fixed.

I’m one of the 1 in 5000 female babies who are born with MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser Syndrome). ). At 16 years old, after waiting for what I only knew should be my red medal to womanhood, my period never showed up.

I was a different kind of woman, and my body wasn’t part of the curriculum. I was a woman with missing parts- womb-less, period-less, vagina-less. And for years, I felt just that- less. Less worthy. Less womanly.

Those with MRKH each have a different variation of an underdeveloped reproductive system so an absent or underdeveloped vagina, womb and cervix- usually ovaries are not affected.

I wish everyone knew the difference between vulva and vagina, because when my condition is widely described as “born without a vagina” my whole vulva gets eradicated in their minds- like I’m a barbie!

I wasn’t born broken, I was just born different.

As I was born with an underdeveloped vaginal canal (inside was essentially much shorter where my cervix and womb did not develop) I was handed the tools to “sort that part” as if I were somehow unfinished until this was done. My Vagina Project was called dilating.

I used these clinical white tubes to slowly stretch my vagina over time until I was “ready for sex” which is something I only knew as penetrative back then. Oh how wrong- shout out to the clitoris!

My secret body that I was traumatised by is now something I’m so proud of and has led me to help others kick down walls of stigma shame guilt and pressure via @vavawomb_.

It’s taken me years to sit back, reflect and celebrate the fact that I actually created my own vagina!

I don’t have a womb - but I am no less. Body parts don’t define my gender or values.

If you enjoyed Ellamae's thread, please give @vavawomb_ a follow! A great big thank you for sharing your story