The University Medical Center of Utrecht (UMC) is going to offer a pill as an alternative for hymen repair operations. The pill is a trick for Muslim women and girls to copy the bleeding of first sexual contact, the hospital reported Wednesday.
The vaginal suppository causes after a half hour a "slimy red secretion", says gynecologist Ineke van Seumeren.
UMC Utrecht receives about 20 requests annually from girls of Turkish and Moroccan origin to undergo a hymen repair. About half of the requests are accepted, says Van Seumeren.
Van Seumeren emphasizes during consultations that most women don't or rarely bleed during the first time. She says she offers them the pills as an alternative.
The gynecologist also says that the hymen is not a skin that must be pierced but rather a flexible tissue. About 60% of girls lose blood on the first time because the area is torn, but that happens to a varying degree. 40% of women don't notice anything the first time.
Source: NU.nl (Dutch)
See also: Netherlands: restoring virginity, Netherlands: Restoring virginity (2)
