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. 2022 Mar;58(3):382-387.
doi: 10.1111/jpc.15887. Epub 2022 Jan 8.

Hymen and virginity: What every paediatrician should know

Dehlia Moussaoui  1 , Jasmine Abdulcadir  2 , Michal Yaron  2
Affiliations

Hymen and virginity: What every paediatrician should know

Dehlia Moussaoui et al. J Paediatr Child Health. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Paediatricians may face the notion of 'virginity' in various situations while caring for children and adolescents, but are often poorly prepared to address this sensitive topic. Virginity is a social construct. Despite medical evidence that there is no scientifically reliable way to determine virginity, misconceptions about the hymen and its supposed association with sexual history persist and lead to unethical practices like virginity testing, certificate of virginity or hymenoplasty, which can be detrimental to the health and well-being of females of all ages. The paediatrician has a crucial role in providing evidence-based information and promoting positive sexual education to children, adolescents and parents. Improving knowledge can help counter misconceptions and reduce harms to girls and women.

Keywords: child; hymen; sex education; virginity.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Embryologic development of female genital organs. Left: Frontal view of female sex organs of a 4‐month fetus. The uterus and the upper part of the vagina (blue) come from the fusion of the paramesonephric ducts. The lower part of the vagina (yellow) comes from the urogenital sinus. Right: Sagittal view of female sex organs of a 5‐month fetus. The lumen of the vaginal canal is separated from the vaginal vestibule by the hymen (star), which will open around birth. (Reproduced from http://embryology.ch/anglais/ugenital/genitinterne05.html7, with permission.)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Physiological variations of hymenal anatomy (upper line) and variations requiring investigations and treatment (lower line). A septate, cribriform or microperforate hymen may lead to difficulty with tampon's insertion or vaginal penetrative sex.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Labelled diagram of the external female genitalia. Courtesy of Michal Yaron.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Morphological features of the hymen. Left: Mounds and superficial clefts extending to <50% of the hymenal width are non‐specific. A clock‐face representation is suggested for consistent description of hymen's morphological features. Middle: A deep cleft extends to >50% of the hymenal width. Right: A transection is a complete defect traversing through the entire width of the hymen, to the fossa navicularis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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