Jacqui Beck, 19, has MRKH, a rare syndrome which affects the reproductive system - meaning she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening. She discovered this at the age of 17.
Beck was diagnosed after she went to her doctor about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods. It was then tests revealed her condition.
After examination it discovered that where her vagina should be, there is simply an ident, or 'dimple' - meaning she is unable to have sex or carry her own child.
Women with the condition appear completely normal externally - which means it is usually not discovered until a woman tries to have sex, or has not had her first period.
Miss Beck, from the Isle of Wight, admits when she was first diagnosed, she felt 'like a freak'.
"I'd never considered myself different from other women and the news was so shocking, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"I was sure the doctor had got it wrong, but when she explained that was why I wasn’t having periods, it all started to make sense.
"She then explained that I would never be able to carry a child and might have to have surgery before I could have sex.
"I left the doctors in tears - I would never know what it was like to give birth, be pregnant, have a period. All the things I had imagined doing suddenly got erased from my future.
"I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more.'
Because she had never attempted to have a physical relationship, Miss Beck had never noticed the problem herself. Had she tried, she would have discovered it was impossible for her to have sex.
She said: "It wasn’t really a conscious decision not to have a boyfriend, I just didn’t really fancy any of the boys in my area, which is lucky, considering what I know now".
"When I was 14, my friends started talking to me about their periods. They started carrying tampons around, complaining about cramps and sharing notes on what it was like.
"For a year I waited to go through the same, until at 15, everyone I knew had started their period apart from me.
Miss Beck was admitted to the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in London, which specialises in the condition.
There, she was given dilation treatment, which involved using different sized dilators to try and stretch her vaginal canal - but was told if it didn’t work, she would have to be operated on.
Luckily, her treatment has worked and if she continues she will not need surgery and when she chooses to, will be able to have intercourse.
Further down the line there are more difficult conversations she will have to have to have when she wants to have children.
For Miss Beck, her one hope is that the condition becomes more well known, so that other women realise they have it earlier than she did.
Beck was diagnosed after she went to her doctor about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods. It was then tests revealed her condition.
After examination it discovered that where her vagina should be, there is simply an ident, or 'dimple' - meaning she is unable to have sex or carry her own child.
Women with the condition appear completely normal externally - which means it is usually not discovered until a woman tries to have sex, or has not had her first period.
Miss Beck, from the Isle of Wight, admits when she was first diagnosed, she felt 'like a freak'.
"I'd never considered myself different from other women and the news was so shocking, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"I was sure the doctor had got it wrong, but when she explained that was why I wasn’t having periods, it all started to make sense.
"She then explained that I would never be able to carry a child and might have to have surgery before I could have sex.
"I left the doctors in tears - I would never know what it was like to give birth, be pregnant, have a period. All the things I had imagined doing suddenly got erased from my future.
"I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more.'
She said: "It wasn’t really a conscious decision not to have a boyfriend, I just didn’t really fancy any of the boys in my area, which is lucky, considering what I know now".
"When I was 14, my friends started talking to me about their periods. They started carrying tampons around, complaining about cramps and sharing notes on what it was like.
"For a year I waited to go through the same, until at 15, everyone I knew had started their period apart from me.
Miss Beck was admitted to the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in London, which specialises in the condition.
There, she was given dilation treatment, which involved using different sized dilators to try and stretch her vaginal canal - but was told if it didn’t work, she would have to be operated on.
Luckily, her treatment has worked and if she continues she will not need surgery and when she chooses to, will be able to have intercourse.
Further down the line there are more difficult conversations she will have to have to have when she wants to have children.
For Miss Beck, her one hope is that the condition becomes more well known, so that other women realise they have it earlier than she did.
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