'I did not know you could be born without a uterus'

Andreia Trigo is dedicated to helping others struggling with infertility because of her own diagnosis of MRKH syndrome

- MAYA OPPENHEIM

As a teenager, Andreia Trigo was surrounded by friends and classmates who were going through puberty. When she reached the age of 15 and her period had still not arrived, her mother took her to the doctor to get some advice.

“The doctor said ‘some girls don’t start until later, just wait’,” the now 41-year-old tells The Independent. “Next year, we went and the doctor said to wait another year. Once I was 17, the doctor said, ‘We need to look into it’.”

Ms Trigo, a nurse, says they carried out blood tests that came back normal, as well as doing a pelvic ultrasound that didn’t show anything unusual.

“They put me on the pill to trigger a bleed,” she adds. “They told me to put on weight but none of this worked and it was only when I had been to the gynaecologist and she tried to do a physical examination but that was very painful – that was the first time when they said I think you might not have a uterus.”

Another doctor went on to diagnose her as having no uterus, while also telling her she was missing the top part of her vagina and would be referred for reconstructive surgery, she recalls.